Kibiro salt production by leaching
Producción de sal por lixiviación de Kibiro
- Date
- c. siglos XI-XII · confidence medium
- Place
- Kibiro, Lake Albert, Hoima, Uganda
- Credited to
- Kibiro settlers (Bunyoro kingdom)
- Field
- Matter & energy
What it is
At the hot springs of Kibiro on Lake Albert, saline earth was leached and the brine evaporated in ceramic vessels, an industry about a thousand years old. It sustained a salt trade towards Bunyoro and eastern Congo, in exchange for iron and grain.
Graham Connah excavated Kibiro in 1989-1990 and dated the occupation from the 11th-12th century AD; production has continued into the 21st century.
What it led to
- a network bartering salt for iron and grain in the Great Lakes
- the wealth of Bunyoro-Kitara
- a craft production that survives today