er per month. With these calculations, it is to say that it could have taken them up to five years of hard work just to get to the salt formations. The effort was worth while as in some of the mines the yield was eight percent salt. The salt was then transported out of the mines by means of baskets made of wood or hides carried up by headbands from roughly 1.5 kilometers inside of the mountain. Another method used by the miners was to hollow out the rock, fill it with water and thus drawing off the super-saturated salt solution. (Schutz 200) The fact that the amount of hard work needed to mine the salt suggests that salt was an important commodity during that time, thus salt was a great source of wealth.
             Once the salt was mined and the Hallstatt had extra supply, they began trading salt to the Greeks, Italians, and the Mediterranean, and the rest of Europe. Trade routes were established covering long distances across Europe. One of the most common was the Rhine-Rhone-Trench which connected Central Europe to the Mediterranean. The Hallstatt also controlled trade routes along the river systems of the Rhone, Seine, Rhine, and Danube. With the value of salt being high, the salt trade was a profitable venture. The increased wealth of the Hallstatt led them to merchandise their own resources rather than waiting for passing traders from other settlements. The most likely way of travel was by caravans of porters and pack animals. (Schutz 200) The traders would return with luxury items such as bronze and pottery vessels from the Greeks, glass, coral, precious metal
             goods and raw metals, amber, silk, gold, horse bridals, embossed bronze vessels with narrative friezes, drinking vessels, and large quantities of wine. (Uathaigh) Thu
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