Ancient Mexicans enjoyed hot chocolate: 10-10-2008
Scientists have revealed that chemical traces from inside ancient Mayan pottery has shown that the civilisation used a drink made from cocoa – the bean from which chocolate is derived.
The cocoa bean comes from southern Mexico, Belize and Guatemala and this recent evidence shows that it was used to make a drink more than 3,500 years ago.
Cocoa, or cacao as it is known in Latin America, has a long documented history, with Spanish conquistadors noting that the Aztec elite used a drink made from the beans and chilli peppers.
Previously, the earliest record of the use of cocoa was found in Mayan hieroglyphs, which dated back to around 100 AD.
But the recent find in Pasi de la Amada, Mexico, shows that the beans may have been used in drinks between 1500 BC and 1900 BC.
Travellers heading to the area will be interested to know that it has thrown up evidence of a complex early society and some of the oldest pottery in the Maya area.
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