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Garrido-Pena R.Author

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January 5, 2026
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Salt production by ignition during the prehistory in the Iberian Peninsula with special focus on the archaeological site of Espartinas (Ciempozuelos, Spain)

Publicated to: Quaternary Science Reviews. 336 108775- - 2024-07-15 336(), DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108775

Authors:

Jimenez-Espejo, Francisco J; Lopez-Saez, Jose Antonio; Bulian, Francesca; Valiente, Santiago; Giles, Francisco; Sanz, Mariano Ayarzagueena; Garrido-Pena, Rafael; Gonzalez-Ramon, Antonio; Carrascal, Jose Maria; Cidad, Fernando Lopez; Vicente, Magdalena Barril; Camuera, Jon
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Affiliations

CCHS CSIC, Inst Hist, Environm Archaeol Res Grp - Author
CSIC UGR, Inst Andaluz Ciencias Tierra IACT - Author
Inst Geol & Minero Espana IGME CSIC - Author
Museo Arqueol Puerto Santa Maria, Cadiz, Spain; Univ Autonoma Madrid, Dept Prehist & Arqueol - Author
SEHA Soc Espanola Hist Arqueol, Madrid, Spain; CEDHAS Ctr Espanol Documentac Histor & Arqueol sal - Author
Univ Complutense Madrid, Unidad Bot, Fac Farm - Author
Univ Groningen, Groningen Inst Archaeol - Author
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Abstract

One of the prehistoric techniques of salt production consisted of using ceramic vessels, known as briquetage, for the artificial evaporation of salt water. This paper summarizes all the archaeological sites throughout the Iberinan Peninsula where briquetage has been described to date, with special focus on the well -studied archaeological site of Espartinas saltworks. At Espartinas we found the use of two different kinds of ceramics, which points to a two-step process also involving halfah or esparto grass, which may well have been used for transport or/and as an insulating layer between the vessels walls and the mass of salt to facilitate the extraction of whole salt cakes. Palaeoenvironmental conditions at Espartinas have also been described based on local and regional pollen records and compared with the dry conditions associated to the so-called 4.2 cal kyr BP abrupt climatic event . Despite the reduced amount of radiocarbon dating, the briquetage appears have been present in the studied region from the Late Neolithic to at least the Bronze Age. However, we cannot discard the fact that it might have reached the early Roman period, when salt evaporation ponds replaced this laborious technique. Moreover, briquetage distribution has been compared with evaporite outcrops throughout the Iberian Peninsula and it has been observed a characteristic pattern with a preference for peripheral, near to coast regions, with the exception of from Aranjuez-Getafe lower -Miocene lacustrine evaporites in central Iberia. Briquetage spread also shows a marked correlation with sites characterized by the presence of Atlantic halberds the first true metal weapon ever made in Western Europe and part of the warrior panoply of Late Copper Age/Early Bronze Age elites. At least during this period, these findings suggest that briquetage was used to obtain solid salt cakes easily transportable to medium and large distances by Atlantic and intra-Iberian trade exchange networks, which confirms previous studies that associate Bell Beaker phenomenon with salt circulation.
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Keywords

DynamicsEuropeEventExploitationHolocene climateImpactRecordRock-saltVariabilityVegetation

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency Scopus (SJR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2024 there are still no calculated indicators, but in 2023, it was in position , thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Archeology (Arts and Humanities). Notably, the journal is positioned above the 90th percentile.

Independientemente del impacto esperado determinado por el canal de difusión, es importante destacar el impacto real observado de la propia aportación.

Según las diferentes agencias de indexación, el número de citas acumuladas por esta publicación hasta la fecha 2026-04-04:

  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 5
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Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2026-04-04:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 8.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 8 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 7.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 7 (Altmetric).
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Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: Netherlands.

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