The document summarizes the history and use of chocolate among the Maya civilization. It discusses how the Maya inhabited parts of Central America from 1000 BCE to 1521 CE and had a complex society that rivaled Europe during 250-900 CE. It describes how the Spanish conquistadors encountered and recorded Maya society in the early 1500s CE, though some original Maya documents were destroyed. It then discusses the long history of chocolate use in Mesoamerica dating back to 1900 BCE, its role in Maya culture and religion as depicted in texts like the Popol Vuh, and how it was introduced to Europe and became popular after the addition of sugar.

1. Noyes1
Ella Noyes
Drs. Lucey and Stemp
Maya Classes
March 1, 2015
Maya Chocolate Paper
The Use of Chocolate in Classic Maya Society
I. History of the Maya
The Maya are a cultural group who lived in Mesoamerica from 1,000BCE-1521CE(Figure
1). Most of their territory was in Guatemala, Belize, the Yucatan Peninsula and Chiapas in
Mexico, and parts of Honduras and El Salvador. The Classic Maya, however, had a complex
society that rivaled Europe. “Between 250-900CE, the Mayan intellect and art were unrivaled by
any other New World Civilization and very few in Europe” (Coe 2011: 91). The Maya sites that
were present in the Late Postclassic then had another event to contend with—the arrival of the
Spanish Conquistadors in 1502CE. Much of Maya society was recorded by Spaniards, including
Bishop Diego de Landa, but was translated into non-Mayan terms so that western Europeans
could make sense of the society they were conquering. If these documents weren’t saved from
the early Conquistadors, they were burned in fires to exorcise the “heathen” religion of the
Maya. The most famous translation of a Maya book using the Spanish alphabet was the Popol
Vuh, a Quiché Maya book that tells the creation story of the Maya people. This book was
translated by Friar Francisco Ximénez from 1701-1715CE (Newberry 2015: “Popol Vuh”). His
book Que trata del tiempo de la gentilidad has a modified version of the Popol Vuh he had
translated. The Popol Vuh illuminates some deities from the Maya pantheon, including the maize
god and Ek Chuah, otherwise known as God L, who are both important in the story of chocolate
and its sacredness in Maya society (Coe and Coe 2013, Dreiss and Greenhill 2008, Grivetti
2009). This recording of Maya society causes many problems in what we understand about the

2. Noyes2
Maya because the Spaniards translated some of the original Mayan documents, if they didn’t get
completely destroyed. Maya politics and history can be deciphered through the glyphs they left
behind on their ceramics and stelae. These glyphs are often seen as enigmatic because of the
difficulty surrounding their interpretations. The Maya didn’t use an alphabetic system like we do,
but used logograms and syllable combinations in order to form words using the glyphs (Kettunen
and Helmke 2008, Coe 2012). Through deciphering these glyphs, we are able to determine that
the Classic Maya used theobroma cacao, or cacao in their society.
II. History of Chocolate
Chocolate has a long, rich history that spans centuries and continents as its use spread
from Mesoamerica into Continental Europe and their colonies. Chocolate is now more
commonly thought of as a delicious solid by many, but ninety percent of its historical use was in
fact in a drink form (Coe and Coe 2013: 12). It was thought that the first known use of cacao
was at San Lorenzo, Veracruz, Mexico between 1,800-1,000BCE by the Olmec culture (Powis et
al. 2011: 8595), but Terry Powis, an anthropologist who has written extensively on chocolate use
in Mesoamerica, and his team have analyzed new pottery that indicates “that chocolate
(Theobroma cacao) was consumed by the Mokoya as early as 1900BCE and by pre-Olmec
peoples as early as 1750BCE…” (Powis et al 2007: 1). There is also evidence that the Anasazi and
Hohokam cultures in the southwest United States had a trade relationship with the Toltec culture
of Mexico and that they were chocolate drinkers after they began receiving it as a trade item
(Coe and Coe 2013: 9). Cacao has a unique chemical composition that makes it less difficult
than other compounds to identify in the archaeological record. The identifying compound in
cacao is caffeine and theobromine, which is native to Mesoamerica only in cacao trees. Although
archaeological evidence of actual cacao found intact is sparse due to the climate of Mesoamerica

3. Noyes3
–tropical weather is a poor climate for organic materials to survive time—using residue found in
cacao ceramics has been used to prove the use of this delicious seed in Mesoamerica (Prufer and
Hurst 2007: 284). It was used throughout Classic Mesoamerica and was discovered by
Europeans during the Conquest of 1521CEwhen the Conquistadors entered the Aztec Empire. At
the time of contact, the Aztecs were receiving tribute and trading cacao with the Maya (Dreiss
and Greenhill 2008, Coe and Coe 2013). Although the Maya are often stereotyped as a peace-
loving culture, they were in fact obsessed with war, sometimes fighting over cacao growing
regions, such as the Soconusco region, which produced high quality criollo cacao (Coe and Coe
2013: 36). It was brought back by the Conquistadors, who invented the term chocolate, to the
Royal Spanish Court of King Charles V and Queen Isabella. In 1752, Carl Von Linné, a Swedish
naturalist who began the practice of dividing all livings things into genera and species, gave the
scientific name Theobroma cacao to the cacao tree from Mesoamerica (Coe and Coe 2013: 17).
Theobroma cacao, which translates to “Food of the Gods,” was used for sacred offerings by
many Mesoamerican cultures, including the Maya. Cacao was later used by many religious
orders and royal courts throughout Europe after its incorporation into the European palate, which
was more attuned to sweet things such as pastries and cakes rather than the bitter taste that pure
cacao was known for when the Conquistadors first landed (Coe and Coe 2013, Grivetti 2009,
Dreiss and Greenhill 2008).
When cacao was first introduced to the Conquistadors, they weren’t fond of the drink the
Maya used to celebrate feasts and offer to the gods. Part of this problem was the native word for
cacao—kakawa—which had the root for a Spanish word that defines fecal matter. With this
association to the Spanish word, the texture, and the color of the new drink the Spaniards
encountered, it was no wonder they were wary about trying it. “It is hard to believe that the

4. Noyes4
Spaniards were not thoroughly uncomfortable with a noun beginning with caca to describe a
thick, dark-brown drink which they had begun to appreciate” (Coe and Coe 2013: 119). This
linguistic barrier was overcome by using the word chocolate, which was first implemented by the
Conquistadors. After the use of additive sugar became widespread among the Spaniards, they
brought it back to the Royal court as a sweet, not bitter, drink that was found in “New Spain.”
With its introduction into “high” society, cacao was also written about as being a medicine, not
just a pleasant drink. “The cacao seed is ‘temperate in nature,’ he [Hernández] says, but leaning
to the ‘cold and humid’; on the whole, it is very nourishing. Because of its ‘cool nature’, drinks
made from it are good in hot weather and to cure fevers” (Coe and Coe 2013: 122). The concept
of ‘cool natured’ drinks curing fevers stems from the Galenic approach to medication that states
contrasting elements cure illnesses with opposing symptoms (i.e. a glass of cold water cures a
fever). The Galenic approach to medicine prevailed in Europe for many centuries before modern
medicine became widely known and accepted. Even after the fall of Galenic theory, chocolate
was still a common character in medical books written by many Europeans (Coe and Coe 2013).
Cacao beans also had another use in Mesoamerica as a currency in some regions. At the
time of the Conquest, there was a price list that determined what cacao beans were worth when
traded for other items, such as eggs (Figure 2). Cacao bean currency continued to be used
throughout the Colonial Era, when gold and silver currency was incorporated into the Native’s
monetary system. Bernardino de Sahagún, a Franciscan friar from Spain, wrote extensively on
Aztec society at the time of Conquest. One passage talks about the use of counterfeit cacao beans
within Aztec society, and how this skill was transferrable to other areas. “So adept were the
Aztecs at this practice that their talents began to shift to the gold and silver coins of the

5. Noyes5
invaders…” (Coe and Coe 2013: 100). This exploitation of the “invaders” isn’t seen in Maya
society, but they did use the offering of cacao beans in their religious and secular ceremonies.
Maya religion has many references to cacao in the Popol Vuh, although not all of them
are concrete. A major deity involved with cacao is God L, or Ek Chuah (Figure 3). “God L, the
well-known merchant prince of the Underworld, seizes this magical “money tree” and parks it
outside his sumptuous palace…while the ultimate source of his wealth and power, this unfair
hoarding of cacao also proves to be his undoing” (Stone and Zender 2011: 219). Cacao was a
form of currency used in Mesoamerican society, making cacao trees “money trees,” as they’re
called in the Popol Vuh. The mention of Ek Chuah’s downfall refers to the death and
decapitation of Hunahpu, one of the first Hero Twins, whose head is hung in the cacao tree, and
he impregnates one of the Lord of Death’s daughters. The daughter gives birth to the second set
of Hero Twins, who later defeat the Lords of the Underworld. This account from the Popol Vuh
is mirrored in a vase showing the “Dance of Ek Chuah” (Figure 4), which shows Ek Chuah
celebrating the twin’s birth and impregnating another woman. In this story, Ek Chuah carries the
staff of fertility, and is depicted celebrating fertility, an important concept to Maya religion
(Brennan 1998: 71-72). The concept of fertility is important to Maya religion because cacao is a
finicky crop, and needs extremely specific conditions to grow and successfully produce crops.
“The significance of chocolate stems partly from its prominent place in the origin myth of the
Maya, the Popol Vuh, in which gods created humans from maize and chocolate found in the
Mountain of Sustenance” (LeCount 2001: 948). The Mountain of Sustenance was the beginning
of the creation myth as the gods attempted to make humans out of the perfect material. It was
also said that one of the Hero Twins of the Popol Vuh, Hunahpu, invented the steps to process
cacao that the Maya followed (Coe and Coe 2013: 40).

6. Noyes6
III. Chemical Composition and Processing of Chocolate
Cacao beans are harvested from pods (Figure 5) on the cacao tree. There are three parts
of the cacao tree pod: the pulp, the shell, and the beans. The pulp is sweet and used for alcohol in
Mesoamerica, the shell is a thin white membrane surrounding each bean, and the beans are rich
brown-colored seeds used to make chocolate. The pods usually contain around 30 egg-shaped
beans in the pulp (Dakin and Wichmann 2000: 58) (Figure 6). The process of manufacturing
chocolate was perfected over millennia in Mesoamerica. The four steps of harvesting cacao
beans are fermentation, drying, roasting or toasting, and winnowing. Fermentation is allowing
the beans to drain away the sweet pulp that surrounds them in the pods. This is achieved through
slowly rising temperatures in the boxes they are stored in and usually takes a little less than a
week. Drying can take up to two weeks, depending on the weather, and is done by leaving the
beans out in the sun on mats and trays. The process of roasting takes from one to two hours and
is essential to maintaining the flavor and aroma of the cacao beans. The last step is winnowing,
which is when the thin shell on the outside of the cacao bean is taken off (Coe and Coe 2013: 22-
24). There are mixed opinions among cacao harvesters and Henderson and his colleagues about
whether or not toasting the beans before winnowing was necessary. “The distinctive
Mesoamerican style of cacao preparation involved fermenting cacao seeds, drying them,
optionally toasting them, grinding them, and mixing them with water in a thick bitter
suspension” (Henderson et al 2007: 18937). This difference in opinion on roasting the beans may
come from the perfection of the process over time, or may be a regional difference in making
cacao beans fit different palates. The bitterness noted in Henderson’s work is from the alkaloids,
such as caffeine and theobromine, present in the cacao seeds when they are harvested. Although
theobromine and caffeine are the main residual markers for cacao in vessels, there are over 700

7. Noyes7
compounds in cacao, making it extremely difficult to write down a chemical formula (Hurst:
personal communication, February 10, 2015). Cacao was often ground using a stone mano and
metate, a mano is a handheld smooth stone used to grind the cacao against the metate, a large
stone with a depression in the center to produce greater amounts of the ground cacao (Dreiss and
Greenhill 2008: 106, Penn Museum). The difference in taste was also dependent on the strain of
Theobroma cacao grown. In early Mesoamerica, there would have only been Theobroma cacao
criollo which is “produced by a tree that is exceedingly finicky, produces fewer pods, with fewer
seeds in each pod, and is more susceptible to more diseases,” but, “possesses flavor and aroma
lacking in the….forastero…”(Coe and Coe 2013: 26). Theobroma cacao forastero, on the other
hand, is hardier and produces more pods, but doesn’t have the high quality cacao seen in criollo
trees (Coe and Coe 2013: 26) (Figures 7 and 8). These trees only grow in specific areas around
the equator because of their sensitivity to light, drought, and wind, as well as having a strong
dependency on nitrogen (Dreiss and Greenhill 2008: 157). The cacao can take on flavors from
what is growing in the ground around it. For example, if coffee if grown next to a cacao tree, the
cacao will have a slight coffee flavor to it when it is processed and sold as chocolate (“Chocolate
Tasting”: Personal communications, February 8, 2015).
IV. Chemical Analysis of Cacao Residue in Pottery
Chemical analysis done on Mesoamerican pottery is used to determine whether cacao
was present in the vessels and potsherds found during excavations. Leading scholars in this field
of research include Dr. Terry Powis, an anthropologist who recently began to focus on the origin
of chocolate in the New World, and Dr. William Jeffrey Hurst, the lead scientist at Hershey Food
Laboratories in Hershey, Pennsylvania. The first chemical analysis of cacao vessels done at
Hershey was done in 1990 by Dr. Hurst. Dr. Hurst is often the resource used to confirm whether

8. Noyes8
residues are indeed cacao or other food residue. “The preliminary results confirm the existence
of liquid chocolate or cacao (theobromine) in a few spouted vessels allowing for a number of
functional interpretations to be made” (Powis et al 2002: 85). Making functional interpretations
is important to understanding cultures that have died out or have been hybridized and mixed into
other cultures because of the unclear past. Functional interpretations tell us how early different
substances appear within a culture. “Chemical analysis of residues extracted from pottery vessels
from the lower Ulúa Valley in northern Honduras demonstrates that cacao beverages were
consumed there at least as early as 1100BCE” (Henderson et al. 2007: 18937). Cacao residue in
the Olmec area can be dated to 1100BCE, Maya use of cacao is usually dated to around 600BCE-
400BCE(Grivetti 2009: 4). Chemical analysis is done by using tools such as chromatography,
which breaks down substances into separate parts and analyzes the chemical composition
present. As stated above, the presence of theobromine and caffeine are the key compounds used
to determine the presence of cacao in pottery remains found throughout Mesoamerica. The
theobromine to caffeine ratio is 10:1, meaning that even degraded cacao beans with no caffeine
left can be proven as being cacao by using residual matter collected from its context in the
archaeological site (Prufer and Hurst 2007: 282). The results are displayed in a chromatogram
(Figure 9), which shows when different substances first appear in the analysis of the compound
being studied. Chromatograms relating to chocolate mostly come from potsherds and pottery
vessels found in Mesoamerica.
The type of chromatography used for these analyses is High Performance Liquid
Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-MS), which separates compounds, identifies them,
and then analyzes the quantity of each compound. The parts of the HPLC-MS consist of the
solvent, pump, injection site, column, a waste container, and the detector on the computer. The

9. Noyes9
solvent and pump allow the sample to move through the test after it is injected into the injection
site, the column is where the separation, identification, and analysis of the sample occurs. The
results are shown on the detector, in this case, the Mass Spectrometer, and the remains of the
sample are carried into the waste area.
The chromatogram from Henderson and his colleague’s article on chemical evidence of
early cacao beverages depicts theobromine’s peak time in red and caffeine’s in blue. The peaks
indicate the quantity of each chemical present in the compound. The signal intensities are
represented on the y-axis, while the x-axis depicts the number of minutes it took each chemical
to reach the detector, in this case a mass spectrometer, from the injection site. For theobromine,
the mass-to-charge ratio, or m/z, is 181with a peak at three minutes. Caffeine’s m/z is 195 and
has a peak around 5.9 minutes (Henderson et al 2007: 18939).
V. History of Chocolate Pottery in Mesoamerica
There are many different vessel types for cacao that vary by region and culture; however,
some vessel types were widespread throughout Mesoamerica. “Geographically, spouted vessels
were widely distributed in the New World from northern Mesoamerica to Lower Central
America” (Powis et al 2002: 85) (Figure 10). Spouted vessels are posited to be used for pouring
cacao from vessel to vessel, which created the frothy drink coveted by many Mesoamerican
citizens before and during the time of Conquest. The vessels found at San Lorenzo are an
“...array of theobromine-positive forms from San Lorenzo B phase….including preparation
(large bowls, ladle, neckless and necked jars), serving (bottles and large bowls), individual
consumption (bowls and cups), and possible dry seed storage (neckless jars)” (Powis et al. 2011:
8597). These vessel forms follow the whole spectrum of cacao products employed by the San
Lorenzo citizens. They also allude to the society the Olmecs lived in: the preparation vessels

10. Noyes10
indicate they manufactured their own cacao products, serving vessels indicate that they shared
the products they produced with other citizens of San Lorenzo; vessels for individual
consumption show that cacao was also important as a status marker among households and
families, and the potential storage vessels were used so that the beans could be stored for future
use instead of having to constantly wait for future harvests. Mesoamericans, including the Maya,
“incorporated [drinking chocolate] into rites used to codify the linear memories and histories of
some men and their associated houses, which marked them as distinct from those cyclical
memories of the larger group” (LeCount 2011: 348). Individual consumption and distinction
were important because the Maya and other Mesoamerican cultures emphasized remembering
each king and that the world was destroyed and recreated every so many years. It was important
to individuals to distinguish themselves among their equals and prove their superiority above the
lower classes.
Although the Classic Period ranges from 250CE until roughly 900CE, most Classic Maya
ceramics that are studied come from 500CE-800CE because there was an increased production of
ceramics throughout the Maya area (Grivetti 2009: 3). The Maya had over twenty vessel types,
but the most common vessel types for cacao beverages were cylindrical vases, tripod containers,
and spouted vessels (Helmke and Kettunen 2008: 20). Cylindrical vessels are called yuk’ib(ill) in
Mayan, which is the third person designation prefix ‘y’, with the verb, uk, (to drink) with ‘b’ as
the suffix. This label can be loosely translated as “his, her, or its drinking vessel” (Kettunen and
Helmke 2008: 20). In some cases, this can be seen on the vessels. On the 8th century vase from
Guatemala, we see a leader seated above his cacao drinking vessel, whereas other vessels depict
a ruler testing the heat of his cacao beverage before drinking it. However, during the Early
Classic Maya period, an anomaly was created. This vessel was from Río Azul, Petén, Guatemala

11. Noyes11
and is dated to roughly 480CE. This vessel is an anomaly because it has a “lock top”; a top with a
handle that twists on and off from the bottom (Figures 10-13). Most vessels are decorated in a
polychrome style; generally in red, yellow, and black pigments. The Río Azul vessel is yet again
an exception in the face that its coloring is the terracotta color of the clay with turquoise glyphs
and handle on it. The handle also has a jaguar print on it- a symbol of kings and deities in many
Mesoamerican societies, including the Maya.
VI. Chocolate Symbolism on Pottery
The information we gather on cacao and chocolate in Mesoamerica is generally found in
iconographic and epigraphic details found on the ceramics found intact (Prufer and Hurst 2007:
283). One of these iconographic and epigraphic elements is the Primary Standard Sequence
(PSS). The Primary Standard Sequence is a string of glyphs that states important facts that may
otherwise be lost to modern archaeologists. Included in the Primary Standard Sequence is “the
manner in which the pot was dedicated…the contents of the vessel…the type of vessel...and its
owner or the artist who painted or carved the text and/or iconography onto it” (Kettunen and
Helmke 2008: 19). With the PSS, the key part of understanding the glyphs is knowing what the
glyph compounds mean. One problem with this is pseudo-glyphs, when an artist uses glyph-like
symbols that don’t have meaning—much like writing gibberish—which has taken the place of a
legible PSS on some vessels. Vessel 15 from Rίo Azul, Petén, Guatemala has the PSS both on
the top and base of the vessel. “In addition to its unusual form and locking mechanism, vessel 15
is decorated with a hieroglyphic text consisting of 15 separate glyph blocks” (Hall et al. 1990:
141). One of the blocks on Vessel 15 is the cacao glyph, as well as the user’s name, the type of
vessel it is, and other information described above. These glyphs are often standardized, but have
regional and personal variation within the conventions of drawing them so that no two glyphs

12. Noyes12
may be exact matches. As discussed above, the drinking of chocolate by individuals was an
important display of individuality, as were the pottery vessels for the chocolate. “Some kinds of
feasting paraphernalia, such as personalized chocolate vases, marked individuals and their
houses as people and places of prominence with separate identities and histories” (LeCount
2011: 348). LeCount has posited in her articles that chocolate—like potlatches in the Pacific
Northwest—was a leveling mechanism and reinforced reciprocal feasting that allowed wealthy
and powerful households to show their dominance over other members of their city while also
creating an opportunity to accrue debtors who would need to repay them.
Keeping with this theory, the iconography on chocolate vessels show rulers with their
chocolate vases in front of them, as well as having glyphic texts saying who commissioned the
vases needed for the feast (Figures 14). Generally glyphic texts, unless labeling something in the
painting or carving, are around the rim or base of the vessel, whereas the painting or carving is in
the middle of the vessel and would take up most of the surface area on the ceramics. Andrea
Stone and Marc Zender note that cacao imagery on ceramics had become standardized by the
Classic Period of the Maya as a “fish” glyph or as a picture of the cacao pod (Figures 15 and 16)
(Stone and Zender 2011: 236n95). This standardization of images spans cultures and time
periods as various rulers first try to control the iconography in their society and then let artists
have more freedom in their depictions of the world around them. Much like the iconography,
consumption of chocolate is thought to be restricted to certain classes within Classic Maya
society.
The cacao glyph could also be seen on vessels to show tribute payments or inventoried
amounts of cacao rulers possessed (Grivetti 2009: 3). The vessel from the Denver Art Museum
(Figure 17 and 18) shows a palace scene showing a prospective suitor presenting a ruler with

13. Noyes13
three bags of cacao beans, a cacao drinking vessel, and the cacao glyph included in the PSS. In
this instance, we not only see the ruler drinking chocolate, we also see cacao beans used as a
bride-price to give a particular suitor a leg up in the competition for the ruler’s daughter (Grivetti
2009: 3). Since cacao is a finicky tree and the beans can take weeks to process, have the
resources and manpower to generate bags of cacao beans is a prestigious gift to give for a bride.
VII. Chocolate Consumption in Classic Maya Society
Early in Maya society, chocolate was used to stratify their societies. “Before cacao beverages
were used by lords to reinforce their status, they contributed to the emergence of elites”
(Henderson et al 2007: 18939). Using cacao to stratify society was replaced by an egalitarian
approach to chocolate consumption. Stone and Zender (2011) state that “roasted and ground, the
caffeine-rich beans yielded by this pulpy fruit were mixed with water, vanilla, and chilies and
other seasonings and rendered into frothy drinks favored by elites and commoners alike” (Stone
and Zender 2011: 219). These drinks had additives that provided certain qualities, such as a spicy
kick or a sweet fragrance. It wasn’t until after the Conquistadors came that sugar was added to
the drink to make it a sweeter rather than bitter flavor. Although Stone and Zender (2011) didn’t
focus on when cacao beverages were served, Henderson et al (2007) and LeCount (2011) both
wrote about this aspect of cacao use. In Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, Mexico, Henderson and his
colleagues concluded that “the early suites of vessels reflect the early history of cacao serving
and drinking in ceremonies that took place at celebrations of marriages, births, and other
occasions created by social ties that linked Puerto Escondido with other communities”
(Henderson et al 2007: 18938). Linking themselves to other communities through cacao
reinforces the concept of it being a leveling mechanism for the Maya, creating a way for one city
to be in debt to another until a better diplomatic mission could be carried out by the city in debt.

14. Noyes14
LeCount examines the use of cacao further, saying that “cacao is consumed more often at social
and political events than at religious meals” (LeCount 2001: 943), meaning that cacao evolved
from its early use as “food” for the gods into a drink for secular events. LeCount also states that
“Among the lowland Yucatec Maya, chocolate is consumed at weddings, baptisms, and other
Catholic rites but not during traditional rites” (LeCount 2001: 943, Dreiss and Greenhill 2008:
4). With the research provided, it seems that the use of cacao may be religious, political, and
social. The first religious use of cacao was as an offering to the gods in order to appease their
thirst for their preferred offerings of blood, tears, sweat, nectar, viscous sap, and semen (Dreiss
and Greenhill 2008: 35). The first political use of cacao was when emerging elites wanted to
show their wealth and power to other members of the city who might be their equals or
subordinates. In Puerto Escondido, cacao was used to form bonds between various cities as
competitors or allies. More often than not, cacao is consumed at social and political events, as
LeCount stated, but the Lowland Maya use it for Catholic religious rites. This shift in cacao’s
religious function may have to do with the use of Catholicism as a means to wipe out the
“heathen” religion practiced by the Mesoamerican cultures upon Contact. The Maya probably
then syncretized Catholicism with their native religion to fool the Conquistadors into thinking
that they had converted to the new religion being thrust upon them.
VIII. Methodology and Proposed Project
In order to expand knowledge in this field of study, I will be traveling to museums in New
York and Pennsylvania in order to observe chocolate pottery vessels from sites I have read about
as well as view other items museums may have that are related to chocolate in Mesoamerica. The
museums I will be visiting are the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the American Museum of
Natural History, the Penn Museum, and the Hershey Museum. While at the Hershey Museum, I

15. Noyes15
will talk to Dr. William Jeffrey Hurst as well as Valerie Seiber, a curator of the museum to
understand how to analyze cacao residues and how to curate a museum based on chocolate.
While at the Hershey museum, I will make a chocolate bar of my own as well as take notes
on chocolate production as explained in the tour ride. I will also attend a chocolate tasting which
will help me understand the various subtleties chocolate can have. Notes and artifacts from these
classes will be brought to the Academic Excellence Conference along with various cacao
beverage recipes, summaries of exhibits visited, and my pottery vessels to show the breadth of
research done on chocolate pottery in Mesoamerica.
IX. Conclusion
In conclusion, the history of chocolate spans centuries, cultures, and significance in the three
thousand years since its first known use. The Maya are known for their chocolate drinking
vessels with images depicting elites drinking from their own vessels, while Aztecs used the
beans from the cacao tree as currency throughout the empire into the Colonial era, even
advancing as far as to counterfeit them in order to pay for various things. This use of counterfeit
beans has been known to cause problems for archaeologists because of the meticulous detail the
craftsmen put into the fake beans. Processing chocolate hasn’t changed since its first inception,
and the signature compounds of caffeine and theobromine allows archaeologists and chemists to
date the earliest use of cacao as a beverage in Mesoamerica. Chemists can use chromatography
in order to separate various residues left behind and isolate the compounds that show the
presence of cacao. Cacao was used in the Maya myth of creation as a sign of death and rebirth as
Hunahpu impregnates Ek Chuah’s daughter from the cacao tree where his severed head was
hanging. In Post-Conquest times, cacao was used in Catholic rites as opposed to their own
religious ceremonies because of the syncretism between the Mayan Pantheon and Catholicism.

16. Noyes16
The use of cacao not only became a cultural phenomenon, but one of the world’s greatest
commodities.