The smoke house for this cabin is located several feet away. The mountain people, before refrigeration, cured their meat by letting the various cuts dry out in a bed of salt. Poorer folks more often used ashes from the fireplace. I was told by a friend whose family goes back many generations here that once the cured ham, etc. were needed, they were brought into the house and cut as needed. Over time, salt collected and fell to the ground beneath the place where the meat was kept. The deer in this photo are getting the salt that has percolated through the soil and is still present after all this time.