Salt Trade in West Africa

Salt was worth its weight in gold.

• True

• False

Salt became a very lucrative business in West Africa.

• True

• False

Salt was a very precious commodity (a raw material that can be bought and sold).

• True

• False

Caravans and boats carried salt to ports such as Koumbi, Saleh and Timbuktu.

• True

• False

Before trade, hunter-gatherers could obtain salt from the animals and plants they ate.

• True

• False

Once the African tribes became more sedentary (staying in one place), the demand for salt as a preservation method for meat and as a food flavoring increased significantly.

• True

• False

Salt is acquired from shallow mines and surface deposits, and is formed into slabs.

• True

• False

The Berbers, a tribe in Northern Africa, controlled the caravans that carried salt.

• True

• False

Trading brought new products and ideas to West Africa, which had been cut off from trade due to its geographic location.

• True

• False

The three empires that ruled West Africa were the Ghana Empire, the Mali Empire, and the Songhai Empire.

• True

• False