Ecuadorian discovery pushes back the origins of chocolate

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – People have been enjoying chocolate for much longer than previously known, according to a study released Monday detailing the domestication and use of cocoa in a former upland colony. southeastern Ecuador.

Scientists examined ceramic artifacts at the archeological site of Santa Ana-La Florida, a remarkably preserved village and ceremonial center that were part of the Mayo-Chinchipe culture of the Andes, and found ample evidence of the fact that it was an artifact. use of the cocoa from which the chocolate is made.

The study indicates that cocoa was domesticated about 1,500 years earlier than previously known, and that it occurred in South America rather than in Central America, as previously thought.

A tropical evergreen tree called Theobroma cacao bears large oval pods containing bean-like cocoa beans that are now roasted and turned into cocoa and a multitude of chocolate confections, although the chocolate is Era was consumed as a drink.

Scientists have found evidence of cocoa use on the site for 5,300 years – more than 700 years before the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza in ancient Egypt – up to 2,100 years ago.

They found cocoa starch beans in ceramic pots and pottery shards. They also detected residues of a bitter compound found in the cacao tree, but not in its wild relatives, evidence that the tree was being cultured by humans for food purposes, as well as fragments of it. DNA from the cocoa tree.

"They clearly drank it as a drink, as evidenced by its presence in pots and stirrup bowls," said University of British Columbia anthropologist and archaeologist Michael Blake, who contributed to the direction of the study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

"The presence of cocoa starch grains probably means that they mold the seeds to make the beverages, so probably, although we are not sure, they also ferment the seeds before grinding them," he added. Blake.

According to archaeological evidence, cocoa was domesticated in Central America and Mexico about 4,000 years ago. Before the European conquerors arrived on the American continent five centuries ago, great civilizations like the Aztecs and the Mayans prepared chocolate in the form of a drink, mixed with various spices or other ingredients.

"The freshly picked ripe cocoa pods are surrounded by a delicious sweet pulp and mixed, they have a very sweet chocolate taste," Blake said. "Today chocolate confectionery contains a lot of sugar, which is very different from the indigenous uses of cocoa reported in the historical archives of the 1500s and 1600s."