Archaeologists in eastern Germany have uncovered compelling new evidence that ancient communities transported brine along the Elbe River for salt production more than 2,500 years ago, shedding fresh light on prehistoric trade networks and industrial practices in Bronze and Iron Age Europe.
The discoveries, made at several sites in Saxony-Anhalt, centre on fragments of “briquetage” — crude ceramic tools used in the production of salt. Although the broken remains appear unremarkable at first glance, researchers say they are crucial evidence of how one of antiquity’s most valuable commodities was produced and distributed far beyond natural brine sources.
Salt has long been considered one of the essential resources of ancient societies. Beyond seasoning food, it played a vital role in preserving meat and other supplies, particularly during winter or times of famine and conflict. In prehistoric Central Europe, however, obtaining salt was far more difficult than in warmer Mediterranean regions, where seawater could simply evaporate under the sun.
In inland regions such as the Saale Valley, communities relied on naturally occurring brine springs. To turn the salty water into usable salt, the brine had to be boiled in specially designed ceramic vessels over intense heat. These fragile containers, known as briquetage, were typically smashed apart to remove hardened salt cakes after production.
Because the vessels were used solely for industrial purposes, they were crudely made, undecorated, and often discarded immediately after use. Yet their distinct appearance allows archaeologists to identify them thousands of years later.
Researchers from the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt now have traced these remains far beyond the traditional salt-producing regions along the Saale and Unstrut rivers.
One of the most interesting discoveries was near Pratau, opposite Wittenberg on the Elbe River, during excavations on the construction of a logistics warehouse. Archaeologists found an early Iron Age settlement pit with an amazing collection of briquetage equipment, including eleven complete cylindrical columns and fragments of shallow crucibles used in salt boiling.
The finds are considered exceptionally rare, even in the major salt-production centres themselves.
“The discovery of columns and crucibles together in a single feature is almost unique for this region,” researchers Frank Besener and Torsten Schunke explained.
The evidence suggests salt production was taking place directly along the Elbe floodplain — an area where no natural salt deposits existed. This has led archaeologists to propose a striking new theory: instead of transporting finished salt from the Saale region, ancient producers may have moved brine itself downstream by boat or raft to areas where firewood was more plentiful.
According to the researchers, centuries of intensive salt production around Halle likely exhausted local woodland resources. Transporting brine to the heavily forested Elbe region would have provided access to abundant fuel for boiling.
Maps showing the distribution of briquetage finds strongly support this hypothesis. Many sites are located directly beside the Elbe and its floodplains, suggesting a deliberate link to river transport routes.
Archaeologists believe the brine was probably carried in wooden barrels or other organic containers aboard rafts, as well, as was seen in the medieval and early modern periods.
The Pratau site also contained many loom weights incorporated into what might have been part of a kiln structure, indicating the settlement may have combined domestic and industrial activity.
Other important finds have been made from sites near Coswig and Zerbst, where isolated briquetage fragments were found in pipeline construction and archaeological excavations. These discoveries extend the known reach of prehistoric salt production further northeast than previously understood.
The salt itself has disappeared long ago, but the ceramic remains provide valuable information on the economic networks of prehistoric Europe. They say that communities in the Bronze and early Iron Age were far more technologically organised and commercially connected than we once thought.
Archaeologists still are not able to determine who actually consumed the salt along the Elbe but they do reveal a complex system of resource management and river-based trade centuries before written history in the region.
Sources : State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt
