RECORDS

CACAO

Theobroma cacao

 

CLASSIFICATION—
Flowering Tree

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Heavy, thick-walled pods holding rows of seeds

Broad leaves

Trees grown beneath canopy shade of humid lowlands

 

SEASON​—

Harvest marked by cycles of sun and rain

Pods gathered when husk darkened and grew heavy

 

ARCHIVE—

Used in offering and ritual
Vessels bearing cacao placed with the dead
Counted and exchanged as value

​Maya vessel text, c. 600–800 CE
Glyph reading “ka-ka-wa,” identified as cacao

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CORRESPONDENCES—

Sun

Earth

Sustenance

 

NAMES​—

Cacao

Kakaw

Theobroma cacao—Greek origin, “Food of the Gods”

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