New discoveries about cocoa history

Ancient people in South America may have sipped hot cocoa for centuries before Mexicans began planting this plant around 1900 BC.

Cocoa may have appeared since 3,400 BC.(Photo: REUTERS).

New evidence suggests that cocoa, the main ingredient in chocolate, was harvested in the upper Amazon and at the foot of the Andes around 3,400 BC.

Ceramic artifacts discovered alongside cocoa carcasses in Santa Ana-La Florida (Ecuador) show that the ancients knew how to use cocoa beans as a drink longer than the scientific community was mistaken, according to the new report. by experts from the University of British Columbia (Canada) published on Nature Ecology & Evolution.

The co-author reports, Professor Michael Blake said that the detection of cocoa traces inside sophisticated containers shows that this drink is probably an important part of the partying and sacrifices activities of the ancients. .