Available evidence and research hypotheses

Along the Tyrrhenian coast of Latium Vetus and Etruria multiple sites with dumps of reddish jars are archaeologically attested (fig. 4). These can be tentatively linked to the briquetage technique (Pacciarelli, 2010; Alessandri, 2013; Belardelli, 2013). In Etruria, their appearance is contemporary with the birth of the early states of Tarquinia, Cerveteri and Veio (10th century BCE). In Latium Vetus, their chronology spans from the Middle Bronze Age (17th c. BCE) to the Archaic period (6th c. BCE). Evidence about the introduction of the saltern production mode comes from the Maccarese lagoon, north of Tiber’s mouth. Here hydraulic structures of a saltern, (first half of the 1st century CE) were attested (Grossi et al., 2015). However, palynological data point at increased salinity already around 2600 calBP (end of 7th century BCE), caused by artificial opening the lagoon to let in seawater (Di Rita et al., 2010). The southern saltern, controlled by Rome according to the ancient sources, has not been identified yet, but a similar increase in salinity was detected in pollen records from the Ostia lagoon (700-600 BCE) due to its opening (Bellotti et al., 2011). 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 (fig. 4);

(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.

Figure 4 – Etruria and Latium Vetus. Early States and salt production sites in the Bronze Age and Iron Age. Known salterns in Roman times. Targeted excavation sites: 1, La Frasca; 2, Grottini; 3, Greppa della Macchiozza; 4, Saracca; 5, Fosso Moscarello; 6, La Cotarda