🫘 Cacao residues turn up in 38 ceramic vessels from 18 ancient North American sites—not 38 sites. Washburn and colleagues screened 386 vessels from Arizona to Florida and north to Wisconsin, including Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon. The dated positives span about 1000 BCE to AD 1400, with elite contexts prominent. At most of the mainland sites studied, cacao had to be imported, pointing to pre-Columbian exchange networks. The finds do not by themselves prove fermentation or one continuous AD 1000–1400 route.
Cacao found in 38 vessels from 18 ancient North American sites
Key facts
- Washburn and colleagues chemically screened 386 ceramic vessels from 18 North American archaeological sites; 38 tested positive for cacao's marker, theobromine.
- The 18 sites ranged from Arizona to Florida and north to Wisconsin. Pueblo Bonito at Chaco Canyon was among the Ancestral Puebloan examples.
- The dated positives span roughly 1000 BCE to AD 1400; the Pueblo Bonito evidence dates to about AD 1000–1125.
- Cacao was not locally available at most of the mainland sites studied, so its presence indicates imported cacao and pre-Columbian exchange.
- Many detections came from elite or high-status contexts, but the residues do not by themselves prove fermentation or one continuous AD 1000–1400 trade route.
Sources
independent.academia.edu
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institutefornaturalphilosophy.org
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The Utah Chocolate Storynhmu.utah.edu
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