Earliest evidence of chocolate in North America found in Utah

[Judi Lynn]

3. Ancient farmers in present-day Utah may have sweetened lives with chocolate

Ancient farmers in present-day Utah may have sweetened lives with chocolate
By Eric M. Johnson
Fri Jan 25, 2013 5:57pm EST

Jan 25 (Reuters) - Ancient corn farmers living in pit houses among arid canyons of what is now Utah may have sweetened their lives with a chocolate derivative imported from the tropics of Central America, recent archeological findings suggest.

An archeologist and team of chemists analyzing the remains of an eighth century village near present-day Moab found theobromine and caffeine, compounds found in a cacao tree native to Central America and from which chocolate is derived.

"We associate cacao use with the migration of corn farmers from Mexico into the Southwest," University of Pennsylvania archeologist Dorothy Washburn said on Friday.

But the new findings suggest that cacao, a bean that was ground up and used to flavor food and make drinks, may have arrived in the region hundreds of years earlier than previously thought, and from farther afield, she said.

More:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/25/usa-utah-cacao-idUSL1N0AU8JW20130125?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews&rpc=401