This Find Will Change Ancient American History

A new ancient DNA discovery at the Etowah Indian Mounds in Georgia has confirmed something archaeologists once thought they had found, and then backed away from: cacao in the Mississippian world nearly 1,000 years ago.

Researchers found ancient Theobroma cacao DNA in pottery from 11th- and 12th-century contexts at Etowah. Even more important, the cacao comes from feasting deposits associated with the initial construction of Etowah’s first platform mound. The connection was already there while Etowah was being built.

This is much bigger than the history of chocolate.