Solnitsata is the oldest known town in Europe, dating to the Chalcolithic Age in the 5th millennium BCE. A major center of the Neolithic salt trade, it's in today's Bulgaria c. 53 km (33 mi) west of the Black Sea coast.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
In northeast Bulgaria near modern Provadia, Solnitsata is considered the first prehistoric urban center in Europe. Settled c. 5500 BCE, the town reaches its height of glory c. 4700 ‑ 4200 BCE. The rise of Solnitsata is driven by salt.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
A large salt deposit underlies the ancient settlement. As a prime salt-production center, Solnitsata is a target for takeover attempts. The town is a citadel fortified with strong stone walls, an inner and outer city, sacrificial pits and a necropolis.
The salt deposit formation happens when pressure from beneath pushes salt to the surface. The salt cone is covered with marl, an earthy deposit of clay and silt. It reaches depths of 4000 m or 4 km (c. 13,000 ft or 2.5 mi) and diameter of more than 15 km (9.3 mi).
READ: Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction - German Mythology Adventures
Exposed surface area is c. 330,000 sq m (395,000 sq yd). Concentrated salt springs flow from the ground until the late 5th millennium BCE, and are primarily used by the community.
As agriculture develops among Neolithic groups after the last Ice Age, people settle down, raise and eat more grains. A meat-rich diet has enough salt to sustain the average human, but grain-centered eating habits call for supplemental salt.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
In Solnitsata, salt production begins locally, practiced by households in the Neolithic Age. At the onset of the the Chalcolithic, the evaporation of brine becomes a community activity and small trade grows.
As word spreads and process improves, production becomes more organized. Coordinated groups of workers collect firewood, while others make pottery and many are involved in the process of salt production itself.
READ: Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction - German Mythology Adventures
Solnitsata covers c. 13 ha (32 acres). Its peak population numbers nearly 400 residents, which meets the archaeological qualifications as a Neolithic city. At the time it's the sole supply of rock salt throughout the Balkans.
Trade loves river routes. Navigable rivers like Vistula and Oder to the north, the Danube, Nile, parts of the Tigris and Euphrates hook up with seas, lakes and other rivers. Earliest boats are canoe-style dugouts or reed vessels especially for river travel.
READ: Lora Ley Fantasy Fiction - German Mythology Adventures
Although the Solnitsata citadel defenses are rebuilt four times, this is thought due to earthquakes, not attacks. The region is seismically active, with the last quake being in 1917 CE. The quantity of gold artifacts found show a distinct rise in prosperity of the town.
Solnitsata becomes one of the earliest industrial level production centers known. Life is good in the Chalcolithic Age, with many people living into their fifties when the average life span is under 30.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
A complex of over 30 ritual sacrificial pits nearby is identified with worship of a Mother Goddess. A second ritual pit complex to the northeast of the settlement, on the site of the salt production center, contains stone structures, pits and graves.
Violent death is not uncommon. Some may be earthquake victims due to frequent seismic activity. Graves of murder victims including children are also found. Death wounds are by adze, arrowhead, spear or blunt force.
READ: Reiker For Hire - Victorian Detective Murder Mysteries
Many buried bodies are missing bones, and some are partially decomposed by the time they're buried. No cremations are observed. The tell upon which the site sits is later used by Thracians as a small burial area.
Between the Middle and Late Chalcolithic (4700‑4200 BCE), salt production develops to industrial scale. Early experimentation results in a quick rise in production. Large open-air installations are built.
In deep pits, big pottery vessels shaped like inverted cones are set close together. The ceramics are left rough on the outside (briquetage). Inside they're smoothed down and coated with kaolin (china clay) to prevent the pot from cracking during production.
Briquetage or "very coarse pottery" is the ceramic material used to make evaporation vessels for extracting salt from brine. On the outer surface the pots are coated with clay, straw or dung to raise inner heat levels. Two knobs on each vessel serve as handles.
READ: Reiker For Hire - Victorian Detective Murder Mysteries
The thick-walled pots are filled with saltwater, heated by fires below. The water evaporates, leaving salt. Concentrated brine may be transferred to a smaller pot for final reduction. The vessels are broken to remove the salt, creating many sherds for future archaeologists to find.
Trade takes place at the Solnitsata production center. Routes by buyers include the Aytos Pass of the Balkans to the Maritsa River Valley.
Read: Cult of the Fire God - Bronze Age Quest Adventure
Another route covers the way from the south Black Sea coast, through Lake Varna and up the Povadiyska River. Demand for salt is intense, including as a flavor enhancer, antiseptic, an essential need of the human body, and for preservation of fish and meat.
Salt deficiency (hyponatremia) is rare in today's society but can happen through drinking too much water, thus diluting the body's natural salt; or an underlying health condition. Symptoms include vomiting, headache, confusion, lethargy, spasms and seizures.
Sharing the Neolithic trade routes is obsidian, another major Neolithic commodity. From the north, Baltic amber makes its way through the networks in exchange for salt. Later, Bronze Age Egyptians trade salt fish at Byblos on the Levant.
Around 4200 BCE, sudden rapid climate change causes salt springs and freshwater ponds and rivers to dry up. Crops fail and drought pushes a swift and comprehensive migration. Despite its treasured resource, Solnitsata is abandoned for thousands of years.