Cacao use and the San Lorenzo Olmec.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Powis TG
PROVIDER: S-EPMC3102397 | biostudies-other | 2011 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Publications
Cacao use and the San Lorenzo Olmec.
Powis Terry G TG Cyphers Ann A Gaikwad Nilesh W NW Grivetti Louis L Cheong Kong K
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20110509 21
Mesoamerican peoples had a long history of cacao use--spanning more than 34 centuries--as confirmed by previous identification of cacao residues on archaeological pottery from Paso de la Amada on the Pacific Coast and the Olmec site of El Manatí on the Gulf Coast. Until now, comparable evidence from San Lorenzo, the premier Olmec capital, was lacking. The present study of theobromine residues confirms the continuous presence and use of cacao products at San Lorenzo between 1800 and 1000 BCE, and ...[more]
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