Chemical and archaeological evidence for the earliest cacao beverages

Abstract

Chemical analyses of residues extracted from pottery vessels from Puerto Escondido in what is now Honduras show that cacao beverages were being made there before 1000 B.C., extending the confirmed use of cacao back at least 500 years. The famous chocolate beverage served on special occasions in later times in Mesoamerica, especially by elites, was made from cacao seeds. The earliest cacao beverages consumed at Puerto Escondido were likely produced by fermenting the sweet pulp surrounding the seeds.archaeology ͉ chemistry ͉ Honduras ͉ Mesoamerica

Cacao use and the San Lorenzo Olmec

“…It is notable that storage and preparation vessels always lacked decoration, whereas those used in serving and consumption displays included both decorated (8 of 22) and undecorated pieces. Only one of the four vessels decorated with the well-known wide-incised Calzadas series motifs showed a positive Whether one of the products was an intoxicating beverage made from the fermented pulp of cacao pods, as suggested elsewhere for Honduras (15), remains unknown at this time because techniques cannot detect the presence of alcohol in pottery of these dates. Although the utility of fermentation has been documented in separating cacao beans from the pulp in some geographical localities (23,24), a step thought to improve flavor, this process does not necessarily produce an alcoholic beverage.…”

“…Currently, there is no evidence to suggest that early inhabitants of this South American region prepared chocolate in the strict sense. In addition, archaeological identification of cacao plant remains (5-10), decipherment of hieroglyphic markings on ancient ceramics (11)(12)(13), and pottery residue analysis (8,12,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20) have contributed to the growing corpus of knowledge regarding the pre-Hispanic history of cacao.…”

Evidence of cacao use in the Prehispanic American Southwest

“…Cacao beverages were consumed in parts of Mesoamerica before 1500 B.C. (14,17), became an integral part of ritual and rites of passage in much of Mesoamerica and remain important aspects of ritual activity in some areas today (12). During the time represented by the Chacoan pottery analyzed here (ca.…”

“…Theobromine is used as a marker of cacao in organic residues studies of ceramics from Mesoamerica because T. cacao is the only Mesoamerican plant that contains theobromine as the primary methylxanthine. HPLC coupled to MS has previously revealed cacao residues in ceramics vessels from sites in Belize, Guatemala, and Honduras (10)(11)(12)(13)(14).…”

“…T. cacao produces large seed pods. Either the pulp or seeds may be prepared into beverages or foods, but the seeds alone were exchanged long distances (14,16). Preparation of seeds for long distance exchange required some processing, including fermenting the seeds in the pulp, removing the pulp, and drying the seeds (16).…”