Mesoamerican cacao beverage
Bebida de cacao (chocolate) mesoamericana
- Date
- c. 1900 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Paso de la Amada, Mazatán, Chiapas, Mexico
- Credited to
- Mokaya culture; later the Olmecs and the Maya
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
Vessels with theobromine residues show the preparation of cacao beverages, perhaps first from fermented pulp and later from roasted, ground beans. The Maya and the Mexica turned it into an elite drink and the bean into a currency.
Powis et al. (2011); Puerto Escondido (Honduras) yields similar dates.
What it led to
- cacao as currency in Mesoamerica
- European chocolate from the 16th century
- the chocolate industry