Research hypotheses

The current evidence for briquetage and salterns led us to formulate the following hypotheses on the relationship between scale increase in salt production and early state formation in Central Italy:

1. The “reddish jar sites” were early salt production (briquetage) and/or food preservation sites;
2. Briquetage sites in time became part of the political network of the inland emerging Early States;
3. Early States required a scale increase in production because of their rising populations. This led to a proliferation of briquetage sites towards the end of the Bronze age/start of the Early Iron Age;
4. Not able to keep salt production in pace with the increasing salt demand of the expanding population, Early States created salterns to upscale production. This required geopolitical control as mentioned in historical sources.