Archaeologists have found traces of cocoa where they did not expect to find it

The discovery suggests that cocoa products may have been traded across North America’s extensive trade networks long before the arrival of Europeans.

Details

Scientists analysed residues from three fragments of 11th–12th-century pottery found near the famous Etova burial mounds. The vessels originated from pits containing the remains of feasts associated with the construction of the first major burial mound.

Chemical analysis had previously detected caffeine and theobromine at the site. However, these compounds are found not only in cocoa but also in the local holly, Ilex vomitoria, from which indigenous peoples prepared beverages.

The researchers have now used ancient DNA analysis. In two of the three samples, they found fragmented sequences characteristic of Theobroma cacao.

This is much more direct evidence of the presence of cocoa.

However, the scientists do not claim to have found the remains of the chocolate we are familiar with. It is not known exactly how the cocoa was prepared, whether it was mixed with other ingredients, or whether it was consumed as a drink.

There is also a limitation: the pottery was excavated as far back as the mid-20th century, after which it was washed and stored for decades. The authors consider the nature of the DNA damage to be consistent with an ancient origin, but it is impossible to completely rule out subsequent contamination.

Furthermore, the DNA could have ended up on the shards along with the contents of the feast pits after the vessels had already been broken. Therefore, the study provides more reliable evidence of the presence of cocoa at Etova than of the contents of any specific vessel.

Why this is important

Cocoa was used in Central and South America thousands of years before European colonisation. It has also been found in the south-west of what is now the United States.

However, for the major societies of the Mississippian culture in eastern North America, there has been virtually no convincing evidence to date.

Cocoa is a tropical plant and could not have been grown in Georgia. This means that, if this interpretation is correct, it was brought from afar via a trade network that linked different regions of pre-Columbian America.

Exactly where the cacao came from remains unknown. There is too little genetic data to reliably determine where it was grown or to reconstruct its route of transport.

Source

Study:“Cacao in the Mississippian World: Archaeogenomic evidence for T. cacao consumption at the Etowah Site, Georgia”.

Authors: Adam King et al.

Journal: PLOS ONE, 2026.