Briquetage orvery coarse pottery (VCP[1]) is a coarseceramic material used to make evaporation vessels and supporting pillars used in extractingsalt frombrine orseawater.[2] Thick-walledsaltpans were filled with saltwater and heated from below until the water had boiled away and salt was left behind. Often, the bulk of the water would be allowed to evaporate insalterns before the concentrated brine was transferred to a smaller briquetage vessel for final reduction. Once only salt was left, the briquetage vessels would have to be broken to remove the valuable commodity for trade.[3] On the European continent, briquetage often took a columnar form which would have too small dimples on each end where the crystallised salt would collect.
Broken briquetage material is found at multiple sites from the laterBronze Age inEurope into the medieval period andarchaeologists have been able to identify different forms and fabrics of the pottery, allowing trade networks to be identified. Saltworking sites contain large quantities of the orange/red material and inEssex the mounds of briquetage are known asRed Hills. A recent discovery at the Poiana Slatinei archaeological site next to a salt spring inLunca, Neamt County,Romania, indicates thatNeolithic people of thePrecucuteni Culture were boiling the salt-laden spring water through the process of briquetage to extract the salt as far back as 6050 BC, making it perhaps the oldest saltworks in history.[4][5]
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