TY - JOUR
T1 - Cacao residues in vessels from Chocolá, an early Maya polity in the southern Guatemalan piedmont, determined by semi-quantitative testing and high-performance liquid chromatography
AU - Kaplan, Jonathan
AU - Paredes Umaña, Federico
AU - Hurst, W. Jeffrey
AU - Sun, D.
AU - Stanley, Bruce
AU - Barba Pingarrón, Luis
AU - Obregon Cardona, Mauricio
N1 - Funding Information:
Paredes Uma?a selected a sample of 150 ceramic fragments for pre-analysis from the materials recovered by the Chocol? Archaeological Project and stored in Salon 3, Aurora, in accord with IDAEH Convenio DGPCYN-36-2014, the Instituto de Arqueolog?a e Historia de Guatemala, in September 2014. Accordingly, we thank Lcda. Olga Marina Chang Lopez, Directora General of the Patrimonio Cultural y Natural, the Guatemalan Ministry of Culture and Sports, for permission to remove the samples and test them. We also thank Eos L?pez P?rez, Laboratorio de Prospecci?n Arqueol?gica IIA, UNAM, Marielos Corado Mena, Proyecto Arqueol?gico Chocol?, Marlen Garnica, Proyecto Arqueol?gico Chocol?, Jos? Carlos Aldana, Escuela de Historia, USAC, and Luc?a Cano, Escuela de Historia, USAC. Kaplan thanks the National Geographic Society, Earthwatch Institute, the New World Archaeological Foundation, the Brennan Foundation, and May K. Millstone for grants in support of the Chocol? Archaeological Project.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Adding to a thus far limited number of archaeological identifications of cacao residues in pottery in ancient Mesoamerica, this study presents the first such evidence from the southern Guatemalan piedmont in the Southern Maya Region. To save on cost, an original sample of 150 vessels from the site of Chocolá was reduced to 43 using semi-quantitative testing to determine the presence of fatty acids and carbohydrates, indicating plant remains. Including these 43, because of Hershey's generosity, all 150 samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography by the method of Hurst (Hurst et al. 1989, Hurst et al. 2002 and Powis et al. 2002). Cacao residues were found in ten vessels, or 6.7% of the 150 HPLC tested samples: (23.5% of the SQT-reduced sample) five bowls, three jars, and two plates, ranging in date from ca. 600 BCE–200 CE. Of the three sectors of the site, elite, administrative, and commoner/agricultural, distribution of all but one of the vessels was in the first and third sectors, suggesting consumption patterns in the ancient city and possibly, also, early intensive prehispanic arboriculture of cacao.
AB - Adding to a thus far limited number of archaeological identifications of cacao residues in pottery in ancient Mesoamerica, this study presents the first such evidence from the southern Guatemalan piedmont in the Southern Maya Region. To save on cost, an original sample of 150 vessels from the site of Chocolá was reduced to 43 using semi-quantitative testing to determine the presence of fatty acids and carbohydrates, indicating plant remains. Including these 43, because of Hershey's generosity, all 150 samples were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography by the method of Hurst (Hurst et al. 1989, Hurst et al. 2002 and Powis et al. 2002). Cacao residues were found in ten vessels, or 6.7% of the 150 HPLC tested samples: (23.5% of the SQT-reduced sample) five bowls, three jars, and two plates, ranging in date from ca. 600 BCE–200 CE. Of the three sectors of the site, elite, administrative, and commoner/agricultural, distribution of all but one of the vessels was in the first and third sectors, suggesting consumption patterns in the ancient city and possibly, also, early intensive prehispanic arboriculture of cacao.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.04.017
DO - 10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.04.017
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85019125599
VL - 13
SP - 526
EP - 534
JO - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
JF - Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
SN - 2352-409X
ER -