SALT FLATS OF MARAS - PERU

The salt mines of the Maras are a combination of 3000 small pools, with an average area of 5 sq. meters, on the side of a mountain known as Qaqawiñay. There is located a source hole named by the Incas, “Nawimccocho”. Water moves through the bowels of the earth, dragging and absorbing the salts in the rocks. The hole appears at the salt mines, letting out the water. During the dry months, the pools are carefully watered every 3 days with the salty water from the mountain. Next, and due to the effects of the sun, the water evaporates, leaving behind the salt deposited in each pool. This process is repeated and continued for 1 month, until a considerable volume of solid salt is obtained.

Currently, the salt flats of Maras and Pichingoto are exploited by a community of 234 families, passing from generation to generation, both the pools and the techniques.