Christopher Columbus

The Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana are the top producers of cacao- 70% of the world’s cocoa beans come from these West African countries. However, countries such as Indonesia, Peru, Venezuela and many countries in Central America and the Carribean also grow the bean.

It was first domesticated 5,300 years ago, in equatorial South America, before being domesticated in Central America by the Olmecs (Mexico). More than 4,000 years ago, it was consumed by pre-Hispanic cultures along the Yucatán, including the Maya, and as far back as Olmeca civilization in spiritual ceremonies.

The Maya were so fond of chocolate that they not only gathered cacao beans in the forests, they learned to grow the trees in their gardens. Even Mayan groups living in the Yucatán, where the climate wouldn’t support a tropical rainforest, apparently found ways to grow some cacao trees.

The history of chocolate can be traced to the ancient Mayans, and even earlier to the ancient Olmecs of southern Mexico. The word chocolate may conjure up images of sweet candy bars and luscious truffles, but the chocolate of today is little like the chocolate of the past.

Did Aztecs smoke chocolate? Aztec use. Unlike the Maya of Yucatán, the Aztecs drank chocolate cold. It was consumed for a variety of purposes, as an aphrodisiac or as a treat for men after banquets, and it was also included in the rations of Aztec soldiers.

Mayan chocolate was very different than the chocolate we know today. It was a liquid made from crushed cocoa beans, chili peppers, and water. (There was no sugar in Central America.) They poured the liquid from one cup to another until a frothy foam appeared on top.

Archaeologists believe that chocolate, or Xocolatl, as the Mayans called it, was cultivated as early as 900 AD in Mesoamerica. The Mayans, and later the Aztecs, made a beverage from the beans of the cocoa pods that was used for a popular, everyday drink but also used in rituals and healing practices.

Chocolate in Ecuador Unlike the Aztecs and Mayans, the Incas did not cultivate cacao. The second was the stock market crash of 1929 which saw cacao plummet to only a third of its former value. Plantations were either abandoned altogether or replaced cacao with greater revenue producing crops.

Who invented chocolate? Chocolate’s 4,000-year history began in ancient Mesoamerica, present day Mexico. It’s here that the first cacao plants were found. The Olmec, one of the earliest civilizations in Latin America, were the first to turn the cacao plant into chocolate.

The Inca Empire built a huge civilization in the Andes mountains of South America. Some of their most impressive inventions were roads and bridges, including suspension bridges, and their communication system called quipu, a system of strings and knots that recorded information.

The incas and similar cultures within Peru have long viewed the humble coffee bean as a staple of life, along with Maize and other essential crops.

Scientists found archeological evidence that popcorn originated from Mexico some 9,000 years ago. Aztecs, Incas, and Mayans used it for food and decoration. India, China, and Sumatra also knew about popcorn before Americas were discovered at all, although we don’t know how popcorn came to there.

Although the Incas were very advanced and did in fact know about the concept of the wheel, they never developed it in practice. This was quite simply because their empire spanned the world’s second highest mountain range, where there were more straightforward methods to carry goods than using the inca wheel.

They just did not adapt it to transportation as in other parts of the world. The main theory is because the best thing they had to pull a cart was a medium to large dog. Bison and Elk did not domesticate well. It the Natives had horses or cattle, wheels for transportation may also had developed.

While it is certainly true that the Maya did not possess the potter’s wheel, they did make use of a device called the k’abal. This was a wooden disk that rested on a smooth board between the potter’s feet. Spun by foot.