Topic: Chocolate
My Thoughts:
I discovered this small article yesterday in Wild West Magazine before I had a chance to post the Feb 2009 news on the chocolate found in New Mexico. I have posted this as well sinse the information in Wild West Magazine mentioned the theobromine, which the article in Discovery News did not.
Chocolate first appeared in the desert southwest a thousand years ago- earlier than previously believed; researchers from the University of New Mexico and the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition revealed recently.
Archaeologists studying ceramic jars found at Chaco Culture National Historic Site in New Mexico suspect the jars may have contained a bitter form of coco used in Mesoamerican rituals.
Pot shards were sent to Hershey lab for testing and the results confirmed traces of theobromine, a marker for the seeds used to make coco and chocolate.The University of New Mexico archaeologists who announced the finding this year believe the Pueblo Indians imported the seeds through trade routes in Central America.
First appeared in Wild West Magazine
August 2009
Feb. 3, 2009 — Chocolate for your sweetheart this Valentine’s Day? Folks may be surprised to know how far back chocolate goes — perhaps 1,000 years in what is now the United States.
Evidence of chocolate was been found in Pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, N.M., the earliest indication of the tasty substance north of Mexico, Patricia L. Crown of the University of New Mexico and W. Jeffrey Hurst of the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition report in Tuesday’s issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Drinking chocolate was associated with a variety of rituals in ancient Central America, including weddings, but Crown said she is not sure of its exact uses in her area.
The discovery, dated to between A.D. 1000 and 1125, indicates trade was under way between the Chaco Canyon residents and cacao growers in Central America.
Original Article in Discovery News.
ByRandolph E. Schmid, Associated Press
Ancientfoods 