Poster - #VH-42716 - Keywords: cacao chocolate Valdivia domestication Ecuador aDNA residue

Evidence for Early Cacao Use at the Valdivia Site of Buen Suceso, Ecuador (3710–3034 cal BC)

Guy S. Duke, Sarah M. Rowe, and Sara L. Juengst
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley UNC Charlotte

ABSTRACT:
Recent microbotanical and aDNA analyses of materials from Buen Suceso have found the presence of a wild ancestor of Theobroma cacao aDNA as well as methylxanthines (theobromine, caffeine, and/or theophylline) in residues on materials recovered from some of the deepest and oldest contexts as yet excavated at the site (3710–3034 cal BC) (see Lanaud et al. 2024:Supplementary information, Tables 1 and 2; Sonia Zarillo, personal communication). While the date range for this evidence is wide, at the earliest point it would be one of the oldest examples of cacao related evidence found so far, both in Ecuador and elsewhere. This poster places this information in material and social context of the Early Valdivia period at Buen Suceso, as well as within the Valdivia tradition and Formative period in Ecuador and the Americas more generally. More dates and residues are necessary to solidify Buen Suceso’s place in the sequence of use and development of cacao, but this preliminary evidence indicates a strong possibility for Buen Suceso and coastal Ecuador being an early location for cacao use.