Ecological aspects of the medieval salt extraction in the Delta
Dr. K.A.H.W. Leenders
Published in: Jaarboek Ecologische Geschiedenis (1999) 43 - 60. (the text is in Dutch)
In the Middle Ages salt was extracted from the drowned
bog in the Delta (Zeeland and surroundings). We describe how this was done
and look into the ecological aspects of salt winning: the extraction of
raw materials and the deposit of waste matter. All relevant literature
has been maintaining for centuries that this detrimental to the preservation
of the low countries near the sea. This opinion is examined, as well as
the idea that the transition in the 15th century to refining imported salt
was due to the exhaustion of the silty bog layer in the delta. A model
is elaborated that encompasses both aspects and describes how the agrarian
use of peat bog, salt extraction and the formation of clay polders interrelated.