Limits RegistryPUBLIC RECORD
Limits RegistryCeramic vessels from the Santa Ana-La Florida site of the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in the upper Amazon of southeastern Ecuador contain cacao starch grains, theobromine residues and ancient cacao DNA dated to about 5,300 years ago — about 1,500 years earlier than the previous evidence from Mesoamerica. The study by Zarrillo and colleagues appeared in Nature Ecology & Evolution in 2018.
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Ceramic vessels from the Santa Ana-La Florida site of the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in the upper Amazon of southeastern Ecuador contain cacao starch grains, theobromine residues and ancient cacao DNA dated to about 5,300 years ago — about 1,500 years earlier than the previous evidence from Mesoamerica. The study by Zarrillo and colleagues appeared in Nature Ecology & Evolution in 2018.
The greatest age of archaeological residues demonstrating human use of cacao (Theobroma cacao).
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Permanent ID limitsregistry.com/limits/LR-OLDEST-EVIDENCE-OF-CACAO-USE
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Limits Registry. LR-OLDEST-EVIDENCE-OF-CACAO-USE. Oldest evidence of cacao use. 2026.