Sweet Cacao and Sour Atole: Mixed Drinks on Classic Maya Ceramic Vases

Beliaev, Dmitri; Davletshin, Albert; Tokovinine, Alexandre

doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0471-3_10

Cited by 20 publications

(18 citation statements)

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“…However, iconographic, epigraphic and historical information report the extensive use of maizebased atole beverages to which cocoa, honey and different varieties of fruits were added (Fernandez Souza, 2019). Yutal kakaw (fruity cacao), cacao with honey, sweet cacao were often ingested (Beliaev et al, 2009). Capulin (a cherry-like small fruit) is reported in several Classic period Maya sites (Lentz, 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age and sex-related topography of carious lesions and oral conditions among Prehispanic coastal Mayas

Cucina

Chiappa²,

Sosa³

2019

DAJ

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Objectives: The objective is to assess topographic distribution of carious lesions (crown and CEJ) by sex and age class and relate it to food intake; Materials and methods: Sixty-eight males and 45 females aged 15 years and older from the Prehispanic Classic period Maya site of Xcambó (AD 250-700) were selected and organized into 15-30 yrs, 31-45 yrs and 46+years age classes. Caries were scored on all permanent teeth based on their location on the crown, interstitial CEJ as well as buccal and lingual CEJ. Results: Caries affected 14.6% of the permanent teeth in males and 27.7% in females. About half of all the lesions were located at the mesial and distal CEJ edge of the teeth (50% in males and 46.6% in females), while 12.9% and 17.1% (respectively for males and females) affected the buccal and lingual CEJ edge. Multiple caries interested 19.7% of teeth in males and 24.9% in females. Last AMTL was recorded in 16.4% of sockets in males and in 27.4% in females. The overall frequencies of caries and AMTL increase with age at death, and differences by sex are statistically significant; on the contrary, interstitial CEJ, buccal and lingual CEJ and multiple caries do not follow an age-related pattern of distribution, and do not show statistically significant differences between males and females. Discussion and conclusions: The coastal site of Xcambó shows one of the highest frequencies of caries in the region. The high socioeconomic status of the site suggests that caries were not due to a diet based on maize, but that also sugary (honey and various fruits) and starchy foods were ingested on a daily base. Cariogenic sticky foodstuff, which likely triggered caries at the buccal and lingual CEJ edges of the teeth, were ingested by all the members of the society regardless of sex and age.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Age and sex-related topography of carious lesions and oral conditions among Prehispanic coastal Mayas

Cucina

Chiappa²,

Sosa³

2019

DAJ

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“…It is clear that "chocolate" was one of many pre-Columbian recipes for a cacao beverage (Beliaev et al 2010, Stuart 2006. "Chocolat" is a Nahua word and has its origin in peripheral Nahua dialects of southern Mesoamerica, including Pipil of the Izalcos colonial Guatemala.…”

Section: Labouring In the Fields Of The (Cacao) Lordmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Many early accounts identify chocolate as a Guatemalan recipe. Otherwise excellent analyses of the domestication of cacao and its pre-Columbian uses almost always at some point in the narrative make a surprising mistake: they use "cacao" and "chocolate" interchangeably (such as Beliaev et al 2010, Macri 2005, several chapters in McNeil 2006, Norton 2006. For example, the description in the Florentine Codex of cacao beverage making and selling begins with "Tlaquetzalnamacac" translated as "the seller of fine chocolate."…”

Section: Labouring In the Fields Of The (Cacao) Lordmentioning

confidence: 99%

The bitter and sweet of chocolate in Europe

Martin¹,

Sampeck²

2015

Socio.hu

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This paper examines the changing role of chocolate in European society, especially in light of the food movement turn to slow, small batch, craft chocolate, as a way to critically analyze relationships of labor and race, gender, and class inequality. The changing culture of chocolate consumption over centuries, from its pre-Columbian origins to the ways European colonists culturally and economically adopted chocolate shows a trajectory of increasing permeation of European foods (more foods contain chocolate) and regionalization of tastes in chocolate recipes, most recently by small batch chocolate makers whose work crafts local identity through branding of a tropical product. Europe is the world's biggest importer and processor of cacao as well as the largest per capita consumer of chocolate. Industrial chocolate is higher in sugar and less complex in taste compared to the variety of local chocolate makers, so chocolate occupies an uneasy place in European diets, especially in light of growing rates of obesity and recent "junk food taxes" that target sugary foods. The historical context and analysis of labor in cacao farming and chocolate production shows a critical reliance on coerced labor. While the legacy of the past has been the decoupling of horrific coerced labor in cacao production from the consciousness of everyday chocolate consumers, the growing vitality of small batch chocolate makers refocuses attention on the country of origin--the conditions of production--as well as local, European tastes--the conditions of consumption.The authors employ interdisciplinary methodologies of close readings of primary sources that include historical recipes, critical analysis of representation in historic and contemporary images and media, and descriptive economic data of export and consumption levels. This systematic study of taste in chocolate and its social, economic, political, and cultural implications is carried out in an analytical framework of the historical contingency of the social construction of realms of value, and that such construction takes place within global and local political economic forces that tend to propagate inequality as a solution to greater economic efficiency. Examining food access and food justice in the light of ways people produce and consume chocolate can challenge assumptions about social inequalities, race, health, and identity and offer insights into long-term sustainability. The critical analysis of these social factors suggests directions for future education, investment, and action by the fine and craft chocolate industry in Europe that can promote mutual benefits for producers and consumers.

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“…While a variety of trees in the Maya area can be described as "yellow trees" or k'an te or k'an che, [7], we were particularly interested in the use of the glyph on cacao vessels. As reported by Weiss-Krejci [2], k'an serves as an adjective for a specific cacao additive, hitherto read as "yellow, ripe" or "cacao beverage". Working with Maya in Belize, Weiss-Krejci suggested that a plant with the common name "pimiento" was the k'an botanical additive, and identified it as the allspice tree based on its yellowish cross section of the wood with a pattern resembling the k'an cross, yellow bark as well as precious wood, berries which ripen after the harvest, good smell, etc.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In the Yukatekan languages, the hieroglyph listed as T281 in the Thompson (1962) catalog [1] ( Figure 1) reads k'an [K'AN], meaning "yellow, ripe, or precious" [2]. As an adjective, k'an can relate to anything that can be described as being yellow or yellowish.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Classic Maya Mystery of a Medicinal Plant and Maya Hieroglyphs

et al. 2020

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The Maya employed the k’an |K’AN| glyph in Late Classic (~750 CE) hieroglyphs on murals and polychrome pottery as an adjective meaning precious, yellow. On cacao drinking vessels, the k’an glyph was suggested as a descriptor for a flavoring ingredient, allspice, Pimenta dioica (L.) Merr. (Myrtaceae). However, our previous consensus ethnobotanical fieldwork with Q’eqchi’ Maya healers of Belize revealed another candidate among antidiabetic plants, Tynanthus guatemalensis Donn. Sm. (Bignoniaceae), which was the healers’ top selection for treatment of diabetes and an exceptionally active extract in an antidiabetic assay for inhibition of protein glycation. Traits of T. guatemalensis observed after cross sectioning the liana were: (1) a cross-shaped xylem organization similar to the k’an glyph; (2) an allspice-like aroma; and (3) yellow color. Based on taxonomy and ethnobotany, confirmation of the allspice-like aromatic compound eugenol, and antidiabetic activity, we determined the plant described by the k’an glyph to be T. guatemalensis (chib’ayal in Q’eqchi’), not P. dioica (allspice). In contemporary Q’eqchi’ tradition, the section of the chib’ayal vine with its cross is associated with the eighth day of their Tzolk’in calendar, which is called the “nawal” (energy) of “q’anil” (ripe, full yellow). This day is represented with a different glyph from the k’an glyph, but notably has a cross representing the four cardinal points. The identification of a potent medicinal plant used in the late classic as well as contemporary times may suggest the long-term preservation of traditional medicinal knowledge in Maya culture for pharmacologically significant plants.

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Sweet Cacao and Sour Atole: Mixed Drinks on Classic Maya Ceramic Vases

Cited by 20 publications

References 7 publications

Age and sex-related topography of carious lesions and oral conditions among Prehispanic coastal Mayas

Age and sex-related topography of carious lesions and oral conditions among Prehispanic coastal Mayas

The bitter and sweet of chocolate in Europe

A Classic Maya Mystery of a Medicinal Plant and Maya Hieroglyphs

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