Why Chocolate? An Historical Archaeology of Chocolate Producers and Consumers, Fifteenth to Eighteenth Century

Summary

Much archaeological and historical attention has been devoted to chocolate consumers. This paper presents the archaeology of producers of not just cacao beans, the tree seed used to make chocolate, but the probable region of origin of the term and recipe for chocolate specifically. The Izalcos region of today’s western El Salvador is a case study of the colonial crucible of the mutually discursive forces of rapid depopulation, intense pressures for hyperproduction, colonist reaping of fantastic, rapid wealth, and creative resilience of indigenous populations. The shifts of the daily conditions of producers can be effectively linked with the changes in Atlantic World trade regulations, commercial ventures in British colonies (Providence and Williamsburg), and the semantic and experiential place of chocolate (chocolate as a way of being, chocolate as a flavor) and highlights that the exotic and sensual qualities associated with chocolate are a product of its colonial history. The question of “why chocolate” goes to the very heart of Spanish colonialism--its ties to the rest of the Atlantic World, the particular case of the inhabitants of the region, and the volatile colonial economy.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Las preguntas que cuentan: Ideas and interpretations in Latin American Historical Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-33,05