'their flocks of sheep and herds of swine were so very large that they supply an abundance of salt meat, not only to Rome but most parts of Italy.' 

The Hallstatt Celts of Austria, were salt miners, hence their skill in making salt meat. This is a wonderful quotation, as it conjures up a picture of wagons loaded with Bacon and Hams, trundling down mountain passes, till they arrive at the Roman road system, and distributing their wares as far as the south of Italy. In southern Britain there are no salt mines, but their is Archaeological evidence for a chain of salt producing centres along the coast. 

These are well documented such as the site at Trebarveth in Cornwall (PEACOCK 1969: 47). Filling rough ceramic trays (briquetage) with seawater and suspending them over a pit fire produced salt. As the water boiled away more sea water was added until at the end of the day a thick block of salt fills the entire tray. These trays would be left to go cold then the pottery tray broken from the block of salt which was then ready to either store for use by the village or traded with inland tribes.

In parts of southern Europe saltmarshes were established to harvest this precious commodity. 'The water's path followed a similar route. A conduit was placed into the breakwaters separating the compartments of the marsh. Gravity caused the water to flow toward a reservoir (a tidal reservoir) where concentration began, then through little canals towards the salt beds; at the lowest level (evaporating pans), the salt crystallised.'(Mollat du Jourdin 1993 :135)

There is today in Cornwall, a Pilchard salting works that preserves and presses this particular fish in the traditional way. Huge vats are filled with the days Pilchard catch un-cleaned and gutted. Bags of salt are then poured onto them and they are left in this vat for six months. The fish are then packed into small barrels and pressed for a few weeks to complete the preservation process. All the produce of this small works is sent exclusively to Padova and Verona in the Autumn to be distributed to the mountain villages in the Veneto region. This salted Pilchard is used as a seasoning for stews and savoury food in much the same way as Garum was in ancient times. Garum was a salty fishy sauce that the ancient Romans used as a seasoning for savoury foods instead of salt. There is still the remains of a roman garum producing centre at Alminjeka in southern Spain, it is still possible to visit this site at Almenjeka and see the large sunken clay pots used to ferment the salt fish sauce. Strabo refers to this fish salting industry near Gibraltar though this was apparently just one of the commodities produced by these people ( Strabo 1 1 : 33)  

'There are exported from Turdetania large quantities of grain and wine, and also a olive oil, not only in large quantities, but also of best quality. And further wax and honey ........... and they have salt quarries in their country, and not a few streams of salt water; and not unimportant, either is the fish-salting industry that is carries on, not only from this country, but also from the rest of the seaboard outside the Pillars'.  

The process was almost identical to the pilchard works except the fish were pulverised after salting and flavoured with grape juice before being distributed in amphora to the Roman Empire. In the course of my research into prehistoric foods it is relatively easy to see ancient traditions that have carried on to the present day. Such as the use of butter in the north and Olive oil in the south. Non though quite so remarkable as this last uninterrupted line of trade between what were the Ancient Cornish Celts and the Ancient Romans.