Chocolate in Mesoamerica: A Cultural History of Cacao

List of Figures

Figures 1.1. A Theobroma cacao tree 2 1.2. Map of Central America with the major cacao-growing zones 2 1.3. Cacao flowers grow directly from tree trunk and branches 4 1.4. Cacao tree with pods growing directly from the trunk 5 1.5. Basket with a cacao seed on the outside 8 1.6. Theobroma cacao tree trunk preserved in volcanic ash 11 1.7. Cacao as the cosmic tree of the south 14 1.8. Monument 21, Santa Lucia Cotzumalhuapa 16 1.9. Three cacao seeds rest atop a temple 16 1.10. Monkey wearing a collar of cacao pods 17 1.11. Detail from the mural of Tlalocan 23 1.12. Woman preparing cacao for a ritual offering 26 2.1. Herrania mariae flower 33 2.2. Theobroma cacao and T. bicolor fruits, Brazil 33 2.3. Theobroma cacao, cut fruit, flower, sectioned flower, and petal 34 2.4. Cacao fruit and crude chocolate tablet 37 2.5. Theobroma cacao fruit pulp drink 38 2.6. Map of hypothetical pre-Columbian distribution of stimulants in the Americas 46 2.7. Cacao vinegar in a Bolivian shop 60 2.8. Fruits of cupuí (Theobroma subincanum) and cupuaçu (T. grandiflorum) 61 2.9. Storing tobacco syrup in a Theobroma bicolor fruit husk 66 3.1. Theobroma cacao fruits variation 71 3.2. Phylogram of consensus tree based on G3pdh sequences 72 3.3. Origin of cacao hypothesis proposed by Cheesman 74 3.4. Origin of cacao hypothesis proposed by Schultes 75 3.5. Origin of cacao hypothesis proposed by Pittier 76 3.6. Origin of cacao hypothesis proposed by Cuatrecasas 77 Figures viii 3.7. Maximum number of steps connecting the haplotypes parsimoniously 79 3.8. Distribution of haplotypes based on statistical parsimony analysis 80 3.9. Tembladera-style vessel of probable cacao tree and spider monkey 83 3.10. Spider monkeys as “cacao-bringers” 85 3.11. Mold-made cacao pod 85 3.12. Monkeys with cacao in Classic period Mesoamerica 88 3.13. Tripod vessel portraying possible cacao pods 88 4.1. Immature Theobroma bicolor pod on a tree 91 4.2. Theobroma pods purchased in the market, Guatemala 92 4.3. Cross sections of Theobroma bicolor and T. cacao pods 92 4.4. Girls enjoying Theobroma bicolor pulp 95 4.5. Vendor selling Theobroma bicolor pods, Guatemala 96 4.6. Jaguar sprouting cacao or pataxte pods, Monument 4, El Baúl, Guatemala 98 4.7. Decorating ceremonial arches, Guatemala 100 4.8. Chest containing a sacred bundle, Guatemala 101 5.1. Theobromine (3,7 dimethylxanthine) 108 5.2. Total Ion Chromatogram for theobromine and caffeine 110 5.3. Total Ion Chromatogram of Colha vessel extract 110 5.4. Vessel from Colha, Belize 110 5.5. Chromatogram of theobromine and caffeine standards with UV detection 111 5.6. Chromatogram of vessel extract with UV detection 111 5.7. “Lock-top” vessel, Río Azul, Guatemala 112 6.1. “Family tree” of Mije-Sokean languages 121 6.2. Linguistic geography of southern Meso-America and lower Central America at Contact 129 6.3. Approximate linguistic geography of northern Meso-America, ca. A.D. 500 133 7.1. Map, lower Ulua River Valley, Honduras 142 7.2. Figurine of monkey holding a cacao pod, Ulua Valley 142 7.3. Cacao seeds drying in the northern Ulua Valley, 1982 146 7.4. Woman passes vessel with frothed cacao to a Mixtec lord 148 7.5. Early Colonial drawing of Mexica woman frothing cacao 148 7.6. Early Formative period bottle, Honduras 149 7.7. Middle Formative period bottle, Honduras 150 8.1. The Maize God as an embodied cacao tree 155 8.2. Burial and transformation of the Maize God within Sustenance Mountain 157 Figures ix 8.3. Sustenance Mountain in Maya art 158 8.4. Crocodilian World Trees 159 8.5. Maize and the World Tree 161 8.6. Personified fruit trees representing ancestors on the sarcophagus of Pakal, Palenque 162 8.7. Head of the Maize God as a fruit 165 8.8. Crocodilian cacao trees 166 8.9. The Maize God in the inverted posture and bearing cacao 167 8.10. Four inverted deities in a tree-planting augury 168 8.11. Palace scene in the Underworld, featuring God L, K’awiil, and the Maize Tree 169 8.12. God L with merchant’s pack and cacao tree, Cacaxtla 170 8...