That’s about 1,500 years older than cacao’s known domestication in Central America. “It’s the earliest site now with domesticated cacao,” said Cameron McNeil of Lehman College in New York, who was not involved in the research. Scientists mostly agree that cacao was first domesticated in South America instead of Central America as previously believed. Residue from one ceramic artifact estimated to be 5,310 to 5,440 years old tested positive for cacao by all three methods. How cacao’s use spread between South America and Central America is not clear.

Source: National Post October 29, 2018 16:18 UTC