Salt harvesting was known to humankind at least from the Neolithic age, on account of the considerable quantities of fragmented ceramic molds accumulated around salt springs. There were two main ways of collecting salt.
The first one was to simply harvest it where it was accessible—that is, near salt lakes, marshes, or near the sea. Pans were used to let collected water evaporate in the sun and then harvest the resulting salt.
The other method was extracting it from the earth. This was difficult in mainland Greece since the soil did not provide much yield in this fashion. Collecting salt from water was therefore the more utilized method.
We know for sure that salt played a role in magic. For example, eating salty cakes on a special day was thought to allow young girls to dream of their future husbands. It was also used in some religious practices. Even in Homeric times, salt was offered to the gods and used when sacrificing animals and making libations. Furthermore, salt played an important part in some Greek festivals—such as the Eleusinian Mysteries, celebrated in the town of Eleusis in Attika to honor Demeter, the goddess of the crops, and her daughter, Persephone.
