The trading and transporting of salt. Mopti, Mali

"Salt from most sources in Africa requires preparation before it can be used or traded. Almost all the salt used by ordinary people in the last five centuries was obtained from local sources. Only the few, particularly rich sources were more intensively exploited and the product traded over distances of up to 1,000kilometers. The most famous deposits are in the deserts of Mauritania and Mali. After the destruction of Taghaza site (Mali), Taodeni (Mali) took its place and in 1975 was still producing several thousand tons of salt a year. From 16 square kilometers of salt pans, laborers, mainly convicts, mined the salt in 60-kilogram slabs from shallow trenches. Caravans still exported the slabs to Tombouctou." [Vogel J., 1997: Encyclopedia of Precolonial Africa, Altamira Press]. "The Mopti region constitutes most of the Niger River inland delta; inhabited by the Dogon, Fulani (Fulbe), Bambara (Bamana), Bwa & Bozo peoples. The town of Mopti is situated at the junction of the Bani & Niger rivers; began as a small fishing village; grew to be the national center for the livestock & fishing industries; town comprises three islands; has one of the highest population densities in Mali." [The J. P. Getty Fund: Thesaurus of Geographical Names].This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Westinghouse Film and traveled to Africa from October 26, 1970 to end of March 1971.