A Reconstruction of the Caddo Salt Making Process at Drake’s Salt Works

The Caddo salt makers at the Drake’s Salt Works Site Complex in northwestern Louisiana played a critical role in the production and trade of salt during the eighteenth century. Not only was salt used to season food, it would have also been important in the preparation of animal hides and the preservation of meat. Using archaeological data from recent excavations, as well as the historic record, this paper attempts to provide a reconstruction of the salt making process at Drake’s Salt Works. This process involved filtering salt-impregnated soil using water from nearby streams and boiling the resulting liquid brine in a thin-walled, standardized bowl. The salt bowls appear to have been made on site using clay deposits found beneath the salt flats. Once the liquid brine had evaporated leaving behind the solid salt, the salt cakes were removed from the salt bowl and prepared for short-term storage or traded to the French, Spanish, or other American Indian groups without direct access to this commodity

The Effects of Horses and Raiding on the Salt Industry in Northwest Louisiana

When French explorers first arrived in northwest Louisiana, the local Caddo Indians had already earned a reputation for being important players in the salt trade. Likewise, many western Caddo groups living near the southern Plains were known for their involvement in the horse trade. In the first part of this paper, the relationship between the local salt industry and the introduction of the horse is considered. It is suggested that at least some of the salt made in northwest Louisiana was being fed to horses and other livestock acquired either directly or indirectly from the Spanish. In addition to its potential effect on the salt trade, the introduction of the horse in the southern Plains also spurred an increase in theft and raiding. Historical data suggest that Caddo salt producers may have been worried about such activities from hostile groups like the Osage and Chickasaw. In the second part of this paper, it is argued that these Caddos may have tried to discourage raiding by using salt licks bordered by waterways, by working in close proximity to other salt producers, and by traveling long distances to reach well-protected salt production sites

A united statement of the global chiropractic research community against the pseudoscientific claim that chiropractic care boosts immunity.

BACKGROUND: In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the International Chiropractors Association (ICA) posted reports claiming that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. These claims clash with recommendations from the World Health Organization and World Federation of Chiropractic. We discuss the scientific validity of the claims made in these ICA reports. MAIN BODY: We reviewed the two reports posted by the ICA on their website on March 20 and March 28, 2020. We explored the method used to develop the claim that chiropractic adjustments impact the immune system and discuss the scientific merit of that claim. We provide a response to the ICA reports and explain why this claim lacks scientific credibility and is dangerous to the public. More than 150 researchers from 11 countries reviewed and endorsed our response. CONCLUSION: In their reports, the ICA provided no valid clinical scientific evidence that chiropractic care can impact the immune system. We call on regulatory authorities and professional leaders to take robust political and regulatory action against those claiming that chiropractic adjustments have a clinical impact on the immune system

Searches for Technosignatures: The State of the Profession

The small size of the SETI workforce is a major problem for NASA and the search for life elsewhere in the universe. The Astro2020 Decadal should address this issue by making nurturing the field an explicit priority for the next decade