The demand for salt generated by the dietary and domestic needs of most Greek city-states could be usually fulfilled by local resources given the general abundance of salt along the coasts of the ancient Mediterranean. The extremely rare references to interregional salt trade in literary and documentary sources corroborate this idea. As a bulky commodity with little economic value, salt was too expensive to be transported over long distances and was more conveniently obtainable from local resources. However, the situation was different when large-scale fish processing centers entered into the equation. The production and widespread distribution of processed fish required a steady supply of both fish and salt. Salt only was able to transform fish—which is otherwise extremely perishable—into a durable commodity, easy to store and trade. The strategic importance that salt assumed at these centers transformed its economic significance and made interregional trade both convenient and profitable. Also, it was through the medium of processed fish that the surplus of salt production available in certain regions was redistributed across the Mediterranean and came to play an important, albeit indirect, role in interregional trade.

中文翻译：

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古代地中海的盐和鱼类加工：简要调查

鉴于古地中海沿岸的盐分普遍丰富，大多数希腊城邦的饮食和家庭需求通常可以通过当地资源满足对盐的需求。在文学和文献资料中极少提及区域间盐贸易，证实了这一观点。作为一种经济价值不大的大宗商品，盐太贵而无法长距离运输，而且可以更方便地从当地资源中获取。然而，当大型鱼类加工中心加入时，情况就不同了。加工鱼的生产和广泛分布需要鱼和盐的稳定供应。盐只能将鱼——否则极易腐烂——变成一种耐用的商品，易于储存和交易。盐在这些中心所承担的战略重要性改变了它的经济意义并使区域间贸易既方便又有利可图。此外，正是通过加工鱼的媒介，某些地区可用的盐生产过剩在整个地中海重新分配，并在区域间贸易中发挥了重要的作用，尽管是间接的。