Cacao Exchange and Use in the Prehispanic American Southwest

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Patricia Crown博士和Jeffrey Hurst博士将描述可可(巧克力)使用的时间和空间范围，以及美国西南部可可交易网络的性质。最近的研究显示，在新墨西哥州查科峡谷普韦布洛·博尼托的垃圾沉积物中，陶瓷中存在可可残留物，可以追溯到公元1000-1125年。这一发现证明了热带产品可可在美国西南部的存在。然而，对可可在该地区的使用情况的了解受到限制，因为只对一个地点的五片可可进行了分析，其中三片可可被发现。可可可能在普韦布洛·博尼托以外的地方得到了广泛的交易，特别是与红金刚鹦鹉的交易有关。红金刚鹦鹉是另一种已知的热带物种，从公元前开始广泛存在于西南部。可可可能比普韦布洛·博尼托材料出现得更早和更晚。为了确定可可的使用程度和美国西南部可可交易网络的性质，将对其他地点和其他时间段的陶器进行可可残留测试。为了了解可可是如何消费的，还将完成对中美洲可可饮料中传统使用的添加剂的测试，如蜂蜜。关于测试哪些领域的决定将遵循三个假设。首先，为了到达查科，来自中美洲的交换可能会沿着新墨西哥州西南部、亚利桑那州南部或格兰德河上游的路线进行。其次，可可的交换可能伴随着金刚鹦鹉的交换，因为这些生物物种来自相同的热带环境，因此来自金刚鹦鹉遗址的陶器将被优先取样。最后，由于新大陆其他地方的可可消费总是涉及特殊的器型，测试将集中在可能用作每个地区饮用水器皿的特殊器型上。高效液相色谱-质谱仪将被用来测试陶泥中可可碱的存在，可可碱是可可的生物标志物。对于有可可碱证据的样本，将进行额外的测试，以确定可可饮料中的任何其他成分。分析将在宾夕法尼亚州好时MS Hershey医疗中心的核心设施进行。这项研究的学术价值包括评估可可在美国西南部的理解分布，进一步了解西南部和中美洲之间的交换关系，以及评估可可在西南部仪式活动中的广泛使用情况。这项研究将在新墨西哥大学、好时健康与营养中心、好时医学中心和几个为这项研究做出贡献的博物馆之间建立跨学科的互动。结果将在大众报刊和学术出版物上广泛传播。此前关于这一主题的研究受到了媒体的广泛关注。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Patricia Crown and Dr. Jeffrey Hurst will characterize the temporal and spatial extent of cacao (chocolate) use and the nature of cacao exchange networks in the American Southwest. Recent research revealed the presence of cacao residues in ceramics from refuse deposits at Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, dated to A.D. 1000-1125. This finding demonstrates the presence of cacao, a tropical product, in the American Southwest. However, knowledge of cacao use in this region is limited by the fact that only five sherds from one site have been analyzed, with cacao recovered from three of those. Cacao may have been widely traded beyond Pueblo Bonito, particularly in conjunction with the exchange in Scarlet Macaws, another tropical species known to be widely present in the Southwest from A.D. Cacao may have been present earlier and later than the Pueblo Bonito materials.To determine the extent of cacao use and the nature of cacao exchange networks in the American Southwest, pottery from other sites and other time periods will be tested for cacao residues. To understand how cacao was consumed, testing will also be completed for additives traditionally used in Mesoamerican cacao drinks, such as honey. Decisions about which areas to test will follow three assumptions. First, to get to Chaco, exchange from Mesoamerica likely followed routes either through southwestern New Mexico, southern Arizona, or up the Rio Grande. Second, exchange in cacao likely accompanied exchange in macaws, because these biological species came from the same tropical environments, so pottery from sites with macaws will be given priority in sampling. Finally, because cacao consumption elsewhere in the New World always involved special vessel shapes, testing will focus on special vessel forms that likely functioned as drinking vessels for each area. High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry will be used to test for the presence of theobromine, a biomarker for Theobroma cacao in the paste of the pottery. For samples with evidence for theobromine, additional testing will be conducted to identify any other components of the cacao beverage. The analysis will be conducted at the Core Facility, MS Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania. The intellectual merit of the research includes assessing the prehispanic distribution of cacao in the American Southwest, furthering knowledge of exchange relationships between the Southwest and Mesoamerica, and evaluating how widespread cacao use might have been in ritual activities in the Southwest. The research will create interdisciplinary interaction between the University of New Mexico, the Hershey Center for Health and Nutrition, the MS Hershey Medical Center, and several museums contributing sherds to this research. The results will be widely disseminated in the popular press and scholarly publications. Previous research on this topic received extensive media attention.