hello

I am interested in listening and maybe contributing to this discussion
board.

I am reading up the website to get an idea of the conditions under which
salt and its impurities can survive archaeologically. interested in the
impurities as they may be some of the trace elements needed in the diet that
are less soluble and so might be more stable in the soil/grave enviroment.

also interested in the alternative derivation for "-wich" (salt or white) in
English placenames: how can this be distinguished from its other meaning,
town? and how recent is this derivation?

also interested in the, dare I say it, religious nature of brine spas/
springs throughout Europe, where a perceived benefit was gained from bathing
or otherwise intaking the waters. am aware that quite a lot of this was
clever marketing in recent times, and wonder how much of a placebo effect
operated in more remote periods? I rather hope that there were genuine
effects taking place, and that there is a sound underlying reason for the
veneration of water sources beyond all that mystic leyline claptrap. if so
then are the old droveways sometimes connected to places where animals would
go to find salt? and has anyone written about this in more detail?

Will




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