The Huarhua Rock Salt Mine: Archaeological Implications of Modern Extraction Practices

Abstract

This chapter uses data on recent rock salt mining in the Cotahuasi Valley of southern Peru to provide some preliminary insights into how rock salt could have been managed and controlled in earlier periods. Until a few years ago, the mine was worked by a collective of miners. Members of this collective and their family members had rights to a particular part of the mine and each group worked the mine with very little hierarchical control. The exploitation of the Cotahuasi source is reminiscent of how other salt sources have long been exploited in the Andes. Salt was considered an open access resource that was not owned by the state of surrounding communities. The infrastructural investments like pans or mines that were often needed to get the salt, however, were privately controlled.