In Maya society, cacao use was for everyone, not just royals
Ancient ceramics reveal who had access to the plant, which was seen as sacred
This painting on the side of a Maya vase depicts a ruler speaking to a kneeling attendant while tamales are prepared. The dark brown bowl (right) might contain cacao.
JUSTIN KERR/MAYAVASE.COM
By Richard Kemeny
SEPTEMBER 26, 2022 AT 3:00 PM
In ancient Maya civilization, cacao wasn’t just for the elites.
Traces of the sacred plant show up in ceramics from all types of neighborhoods and dwellings in and around a former Maya city, researchers report September 26 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The finding suggests that, contrary to previous thinking, cacao was consumed at every social level of Maya society.
“Now we know that the rituals the elite depict with cacao were likely played out, like Thanksgiving, like any other ritual, by everyone,” says Anabel Ford, an archaeologist at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Cacao — which chocolate is made from — was sacred to the ancient Maya, consumed in rituals and used as a currency. The cacao tree (Theobroma cacao) itself was linked to Hun Hunahpu, the maize god. Previous research found cacao in ceremonial vessels and elite burials, suggesting that its use was restricted to those at the top.
To explore the extent to which cacao was used in broader Maya society, Ford and colleagues examined 54 ceramic shards dating from A.D. 600 to 900 (SN: 9/27/18). The shards come from jars, mixing bowls, serving plates and vases thought to be drinking vessels. All the pieces were found in residential and ceremonial civic areas of varying size and status from city centers, foothills, upland areas and the valley around the former Maya city of El Pilar, on the present-day border of Guatemala and Belize.
More:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/maya-cacao-ceramics-royals-currency-ritual
This Maya vessel was once used to drink hot chocolate. Drinking Vessel Depicting Otherworldly Toad, Jaguar, and Serpent, 650–800 A.D. Mexico, Southern Campeche. Slip-painted ceramic, 5 3/8 in. high. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Gift of the 2006 Collectors Committee (M.2006.41), www.lacma.org
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there was enough of the stuff for traders to bring it all the way up to the Four Corners part of the US Southwest, where traces of Cacao has been found in pottery.
Considering how the stuff had to be brought up by foot, you have to wonder how much some folks paid back then to get their chocolate fix…
