Cacao domestication and use
Domesticación y uso del cacao
- Date
- c. 3300 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Santa Ana-La Florida, Palanda, Zamora Chinchipe, Ecuador
- Credited to
- Mayo-Chinchipe culture
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Residues of theobromine, starch and ancient DNA of Theobroma cacao in vessels around 5,300 years old in the upper Amazon. It shifts the origin of cacao use from Mesoamerica to South America.
Published by Zarrillo et al. (2018). Until then it was attributed to the Olmecs and the Maya.
What it led to
- the spread of cacao to the Pacific coast and Mesoamerica
- ceremonial cacao beverages
- the world chocolate industry