Cacao Cultivation in Mesoamerica

Timeline

1. 1451–1453Tenochtitlan and the core of the Triple Alliance · Valley of MexicoUnder Moctezuma I, the Aztec Empire collected substantial quantities of cacao beans from subject regions via the tribute list (Matrícula de Tributos); provinces of the Gulf lowlands such as Tlacotzalpan alone had to deliver thousands of bags (xiquipilli) of cacao beans each year to the Tenochtitlan court and market.
2. c. 1454–1457Tlatelolco great market · Mexico CityThe great market of Tlatelolco was the largest commercial center in the Americas at the time; cacao beans circulated there both as a commodity (used to make foamy xocolatl drinks) and as standardized currency for buying cloth, maize, and slaves. Trade recovered after the 1454 famine, further strengthening the monetary function of cacao beans.
3. c. 1458–1460Cacao-producing regions of the Maya lowlands · Chiapas, MexicoMaya farmers continued and refined multilayer agroforestry systems for growing cacao under the shade of tall canopies, using fast-growing trees such as banana and coconut as a shade layer, reducing water evaporation while maintaining the diffuse light cacao requires, steadily raising yields and pod quality and establishing the cultivation paradigm later introduced to Europe by Spanish colonists.