The ancient civilisation that discovered chocolate – BBC REEL

Contrary to popular belief, chocolate was not first enjoyed by the Europeans, nor by the ancient Mayans. A team of scientists discovered cacao remains in the Ecuadorian Amazon dating back to 5,500 years ago belonging to the Mayo Chinchipe Marañon people.

The domestication of cacao plants, as well as pottery and architectural remains reveal a lost civilisation that lived in the Amazon rainforest - a discovery which raises more questions than answers.

Video by Daniel Tapia & Cristina Munoz
Narrator: Sam Hartford
Commissioning Editor: Griesham Taan

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#bbc #bbcreel #bbcnews

[CaptainFrandy]

I love these insightful videos that opens our mind to the realities of the past. The Amazon is full of amazing species

[HARE]

What an interesting and informative episode.
Thanks for shining a light on the origins of one of my favorite foods.

[noisepuppet]

Finally some videos about this in English! This is incredibly important, and not just because of cacao.

[gf]

The translation into English of what the Spanish speaking researcher says is impeccable!

[DSMCCrix]

Don´t forget the chili, this jungle gift is also from ancient Ecuador.

[t.miranda]

Here in Guatemala, if you’re feeling under the weather or with a bit of a cold, Maya people will recommend drinking hot chocolate (not to be confused with the powdered crap from Nestlé). It does make you feel better in no time.

[susan]

I knew chocolate was medicine! Makes me feel better every time I take it 🤕😊

[tjmarx]

Modern humans, that's people running the same software as us with the same bodies, have been around between 200K and 300K years, depending on which evidence you take.

The idea that for the bulk of that period we were just standing around trying to pick fruit and hunt, and only a few thousand years ago agriculture suddenly occurred is frankly intellectually insulting.

[alanhyt]

As much as I love chocolate, I should have copies of that civilization's art in my home.

[rolandochambialdea]

las culturas más Antiguas dé América, Están en el Perú .



Peruvian
over 6, 000 years
Cacao

[robertoponce]

Chocolatl or Xokólatl is a náhuatl word...

[leotre]

yeah the info that I have is that genetically/botanically Cacao trees come from the edges of the Amazon basin. Probably used by local tribes and traded between different nations along the millennia . It also seems weird to me to think of the origin of Cacao in mesoamerica because it was so and valuable as to be used as currency, possibly pointing out to a certain scarcity, while it is endemic and widespread further south. I guess a lot of bias and a strange sense of nationalistic pride can mislead us and prevent us from further discovering more and more intricate details about our past.

[granbrujothopaga]

The chocolate recepie is from México not from Ecuator. There are no tools for chocolate reciepie that were found in Ecuator, the name is from the náhuatl xocatl it's 100% mexican. The Grijalva Cacao has origin denomination in México it's not the same as the ecuatorian cacao is different.

[elissabaker]

Hey, I've been there. lmao Santa Ana Florida. And the chocolate shop in Vilca.

[MartinHarbaum]

Apparently now it’s peruvian over 6000 years

[lilc]

More insights into the fact that advanced civilisations existed for a lot longer than we believe and before European colonisation

[johnshields]

The primitive humans, long before 2, 3 thousand years ago would've known the plants in their environment, I'm sure the use of many plants goes way back in time to our ancestors.

[MPMChitChat]

The beans can be left to ferment to make an alcoholic beverage.
The beans are not sweet but very bitter.
First time l tried a mouthful of Guinea pig or Squirrel, smothered in a plain cocoa Mole was my last. Has to be an acquired taste.

[KingMacuilmiquiztli]

Chocolate was sacred to the Nicarao people of pre-columbian Nicaragua

[MariaGasca-Reyes]

The Aztecs were the first to invent hot chocolate 🫕🍫. Chocolate is a Nautuatl word .