Keynote Talks
Andrea Yankowski
Independent Researcher
Berkeley, CA
Andrea Yankowski is an archaeologist/anthropologist based in Berkeley, CA. She graduated with an M.A. in anthropology from San Francisco State University and was a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines in 1999-2000, launching her last two-plus decades of research in Southeast Asia. Her current research interests include the ethnoarchaeological study of traditional salt-making and earthenware pottery production, and she is actively engaged in research in the Philippines and Thailand. In 2021, she was awarded a grant from the British Museum’s Endangered Material Knowledge Programme for her project titled “Documenting the construction of a traditional kamalig (salt workshop) and the making of asin tibuok (native salt): the indigenous skills and knowledge systems of an endangered craft tradition in Alburquerque, Bohol, Philippines.” She continues to collaborate with heritage specialists and the local community in Bohol to help revive this endangered tradition.
Vassil Nikolov, Galina Samichkova
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Technology of Salt Production at Provadia-Solnitsata, Northeastern Bulgaria, during the Period 5600-4350 BC
The prehistoric complex of Provadia-Solnitsata is located near the modern town of Provadia in Northeastern Bulgaria. It represents the remains of Europe’s oldest salt production
center, which emerged during the Late Neolithic (around 5600 BC) and existed through the Chalcolithic period (until 4350 BC), becoming the first prehistoric urban center on the
European continent (4700-4350 BC). The site consists of a large salt production center with ritual pits, an initially unfortified settlement (later fortified with stone walls during the Chalcolithic), a small salt production site, a ritual pit field, and two necropolises. It covers an area of about 30 hectares.
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The establishment and development of the complex are directly related to the exploitation of the vast rock salt deposit beneath it. Throughout Late Prehistory, the producers
of cooking salt maintained a monopoly over the “white gold” in the vast region of the Eastern Balkans.
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Specialized cooking salt production first took place within the settlement during the early phase of the Late Neolithic, and then in a long-used nearby production complex – during
the second half of the Late Neolithic, as well as throughout the Early, Middle, and Early Late Chalcolithic periods. The technology was based on the evaporation of brine (salty spring water) by fire to produce dry salt in ceramic vessels, arranged in production dome kilns (Late Neolithic) or in dug-out structures (second half of the Late Neolithic, Early, Middle, and Early Late Chalcolithic).
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Due to significant climate changes that led to drought and rising temperatures, a new salt production technology emerged in the second half of the Late Chalcolithic. A large
production facility was built on the settlement’s periphery, consisting of a well, channels, and a “basin” for evaporating brine using solar heat.
