Cacao residue found at multiple ancient sites across American Southwest - far beyond where it can grow! Evidence of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican trade routes reaching far beyond their home territory 🫘🛤️
Key facts:
- Ceramic vessels at Ancestral Pueblo sites (especially Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon) tested positive for theobromine
- Sites confirmed in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico's Chaco Canyon, and northern Mexico
- Cacao doesn't grow in the United States - it must have been imported
- Evidence of cacao drinks consumed primarily by elites circa AD 1000–1125
- Evidence of long-distance trade routes in pre-Columbian times
Key facts claimed:
- Ceramic vessels at sites tested positive for cacao
- Sites range from Arizona to Utah to New Mexico's Chaco Canyon
- Cacao doesn't grow in the United States - it must have been imported
- It was likely processed cacao from Mesoamerica, possibly including fermented varieties
- Evidence of long-distance trade routes between AD 1000 and the 1400s