Salt evaporation pond salt production

Timeline

1. c. -1000–-400Southeast coast of China · ChinaCoastal China and the Mediterranean used intertidal zones to build salt pans as early as BCE times, drawing seawater into ponds for multi-stage evaporation and crystallization to collect crude salt, providing a material basis for early state salt administration and trade.
2. 901–1301Mediterranean · MediterraneanFrom the 10th to 13th centuries, Mediterranean salt pans combined with trade at ports such as Venice and Marseille; China from the Song to Yuan dynasties also maintained official and private salt pans in Fujian and Liangzhe, forming mature procedures for tidal intake, sun-drying, and salt collection.
3. 1311–1320Coasts of Eurasia and Africa · AfricaAround 1311–1320, Yuan China still supplied inland salt through salt pans in Fujian and Liangzhe, while salt pans on India's west coast and the Mediterranean supported salted fish and interregional trade; salt evaporation ponds were the most widespread salt-making method in the world at the time.
4. 1801–2001Worldwide · WorldwideAfter the 19th century, vacuum evaporation and well-salt technologies arose, and traditional salt pans shrank in most industrialized regions, but continued production on arid coasts and in cultural-heritage protected areas, with some salt pans listed as intangible cultural heritage.