The production of salt in Ireland: establishing a multiscalar understanding of the archaeology of a marine industry.

几千年来，盐的生产一直是人类生活的重要商品。盐对于保存食物并出口至关重要，它一直是成功文明的核心，它使城邦得以发展，并在战役中为军队提供食物。该项目旨在调查盐生产在爱尔兰努力将其商业扩展到全球市场（特别是跨大西洋殖民地- Mandelblatt 2007）中的作用。与邻国英国不同，爱尔兰从未受到大规模工业发展的影响，但尽管如此，从17世纪开始，咸牛肉和黄油的出口贸易蓬勃发展，刺激了经济增长（Rynne 2006）。因此，盐的重要性源于它在迅速发展的粮食贸易中所起的关键作用，这反过来又促进了后中世纪时代的经济扩张。尽管盐生产对支撑经济具有重要意义，但几乎没有针对这种商品的实地研究。其结果是，人们对与制盐有关的遗址的规模和生存状况缺乏了解，而且几乎没有关于爱尔兰制盐工业的技术和物质文化的考古证据。由于以往工作的缺乏，该项目需要在国家和地方的尺度上调查这一主题，为了解盐生产的规模和地理提供一个背景，并允许对一个重要的、最近发现的早期盐生产地点进行集中调查。全国范围的调查将整理来自广泛的地图和文件来源的证据，以产生盐工作地点的综合分布（地理信息系统包）。将选择以这种方式确定的重要遗址样本进行实地考察，目的是记录和了解在不同地点工作的盐的考古表现。这将概述与盐生产有关的结构以及可能位于附近的特征（例如盐水储层）及其与区域港口的关系。特别令人感兴趣的是，这些遗址是否展示了石灰和海带制造与盐生产等工业过程的结合——这似乎是爱尔兰独有的一种有记录的创新。国家框架将在北欧背景下建立爱尔兰制盐，帮助解释挖掘结果（见下文），并为未来的研究议程提供信息。该项目将通过有针对性的挖掘，特别揭示爱尔兰海岸最早的盐场遗址——位于安特里姆郡的巴利卡斯尔湾。在海湾发现了三个盐场，见证了三个世纪的生产（17 -19世纪）。该综合体利用邻近的大型煤田作为燃料，是该国最长的连续生产盐场。挖掘的重点将放在最近发现的东部遗址上。这是海湾地区最早的遗址，可能起源于16世纪麦克唐奈的所有权。这次挖掘将确定更准确的工程奠基日期，评估当时的技术水平，并对17世纪盐工的物质文化和工作条件提供深入了解。第二次挖掘将在最新的西部遗址进行，该遗址独特地保存了用于蒸发盐水的铁锅。在这种情况下，这些平底锅因侵蚀而处于危险之中，考古调查之后将进行稳定和覆盖现场的工作。该项目采用多尺度方法，首次尝试调查爱尔兰最重要的后中世纪工业之一。这项工作将检查该国最重要的盐生产地点之一，为该行业提供新的见解提供独特的机会。

The production of salt has been a vital commodity for human life for millennia. Of crucial importance for preserving foodstuffs and thus allowing them to be exported, salt has been at the heart of successful civilizations, allowing the growth of city states and feeding their armies on campaign. This project seeks to investigate the role of salt production in Ireland's efforts to extend her commerce to a global market (in particular the transatlantic colonies - Mandelblatt 2007). Unlike neighbouring Britain, Ireland was never subject to large-scale industrial development, but nevertheless had a thriving export trade in salted beef and butter which stimulated economic growth from the seventeenth century (Rynne 2006). The importance of salt stems therefore from its crucial role in the burgeoning provisions trade which in turn facilitated economic expansion in the post-medieval era.Despite the importance of salt production for underpinning the economy, there has been almost no field-based research focussing on the commodity. The result is a lack of knowledge concerning the scale and survival of sites associating with salt making and almost no archaeological evidence of the technology and material culture of the industry in Ireland. The paucity of previous work necessitates the project investigate the subject at both national and local scales, providing a context to understand the scale and geography of salt production and allowing focussed investigation on an important, recently discovered site of early salt production. The national scale investigation will collate evidence from a wide range of cartographic and documentary sources to generate a comprehensive distribution (GIS package) of salt working sites. A significant sample of sites identified in this way will be selected for field visits aimed at recording and understanding the archaeological expression of salt working at different locations. This will provide an overview of the structures associated with salt production as well as features (e.g. brine reservoirs) that may be located within the vicinity and their relationship with regional ports. Of particular interest is whether any of the sites demonstrate combined industrial processes such as lime and kelp-making with salt production - a documented innovation that seems to have been unique to Ireland. The national framework will establish Irish salt making within a north European context, aid interpretation of excavation results (see below) and inform future research agendas. The project will specifically reveal through targeted excavation the unique remains of the earliest salt-working sites on the Irish coast - that at Ballycastle Bay in Co. Antrim. Three salt-working sites have been discovered in the Bay, bearing witness to three centuries of production (17th-19th centuries). Drawing on the large adjacent coalfield for fuel, the complex is the longest continuous site of salt production in the country. The main focus of the excavation will be on the recently discovered eastern site. This site is the earliest in the Bay, and may have its origins under MacDonnell ownership in the 16th century. The dig will ascertain a more accurate foundation date for the works, assess the level of technological sophistication in place, and provide insights into the material culture and working conditions of the 17th century salt workers. A secondary excavation will take place at the latest, western site, which uniquely preserves the iron pans used to evaporate brine. In this case the pans are in danger from erosion and archaeological investigation will be followed by work to stabilise and cover the site. Drawing on a multi-scale approach, this project is the first attempt to investigate one of Ireland's most important post-medieval industries. The work will examine one of the most significant sites of salt production in the country, presenting a unique opportunity to provide new insights on the industry.