"Once upon a time, pounding salt was an honorable job for the crippled and handicapped. "

I believe it. I use unrefined sea salt and it clumps. And it also seem to eat grinders, even ceramic ones. It wrecked the fininsh on the inside of my mortar and pestle. I need a small area confined in which to crush it, i.e. "pound" salt.

I think it is good for the body. Also with my other eating habits though I eat a ton of salt and grease my BP runs about 115/65 and my cholesterol is 138/1.89. I avoid refined salt (they make more money on what they take out) and refined sugar. I try to eat salad and fruit every day and especially meat. these days with commercial farming you cannot get all your nutrients from plants. You need them from the mineral supplements that they give livestock. Without them the animals would die before they got to market weight. I have a comprehensive compendium of about 22 of the most essential minerals.

When people were no longer nomadic, they noticed their health decline and moved figuring the land was "played out", and they were right. Salt played a very important role, and once they started buying land to stay there for generations, salt was literally a life saver. That is why they used it as currency. The dead have no need for gold. How else would something that is not rare or a precious metal become thought of as money ?

I'll mention thread drift, but I can never bitch about it after what I just did to my own. HA. From a variac to commercial farming, nutrition and evolution of homosapiens. But then I know they can top tht in SED.

LOL