Investigating prehistoric salt production in the Seille Valley (France)

This website is intended for those interested in ongoing research into one of Europe’s most important Iron Age (750 BC-50 AD) salt production centres, the Seille Valley in northeast France. The Seille Valley literally means the “Salt Valley”. This inland site is of international importance due to the scale and intensity of Iron Age salt production activities, and the massive quantity of associated archaeological remains.

This interactive website presents the results of research into the environmental history of the Seille Valley and the impact of salt production on the landscape. It is designed to be an interactive information and educational resource.

Here you can find out about:
• The prehistory of salt production in Europe (before 50 AD)
• Prehistoric salt production in the Seille Valley
• The environmental history of the Seille Valley and the impact of salt production on the landscape
• How we have reconstructed the environmental history of the Seille Valley
• How we have detected evidence for past human impacts on the environment using clues in the modern landscape

Use the menu above to unlock the secrets of The Salt Valley.

Excavation of Iron Age salt furnaces in the Seille Valley, northeast France (Photo: J. Kovacik)

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INQUA Congress 2011 (Bern): We are presenting a poster entitled "Prehistoric salt production and the palaeoenvironmental record: a case study from the Seille Valley, northeast France" in the Geoarchaeology, Palaeoenvironments and Human Interactions session on Monday 25th July Click here to view

Fieldwork preparation is underway for the 2011 excavation season - the aim is to test environmental evidence for Bronze Age salt production with targeted excavation of the floodplain at Marsal (July 2011)

A paper entitled "Holocene palaeoenvironmental change and the impact of prehistoric salt production in the Seille Valley, eastern France" has been submitted to The Holocene journal (March 2011)

Twenty-one new borehole core samples have been collected and described from Marsal in an attempt to refine our understanding of the relationship between prehistoric salt production and the surrounding floodplain environment at this locality (August 2010)

Pilot diatom study completed - evidence for eutrophication coinciding with onset of salt production identified (June 2010)

Fieldwork preparation is underway for the 2010 excavation season (May 2010)

Diatom study planned to help understand changes in the Holocene fluvial regime (April 2010)

Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dates potentially indicate evidence for Bronze Age salt production in the Seille Valley (March 2008)