by Professor Katie Sampeck, University of Reading
Chocolate has a complex history of profound social, economic, and political impacts on the societies who produce and consume it. Central America is pivotal to this global story, but its place in chocolate’s history has been neglected because we have lacked the material evidence and the interpretive tools to evaluate its real contribution.
My current project will integrate archaeological, documentary and other contextual sources and, in collaboration with the British Museum, use cutting-edge biomolecular techniques to build a multi-scalar interpretation of Mesoamerican cuisine networks through time, from 1000 BCE-1900 CE. This will recentre the story on Indigenous societies’ agency in the global commodification of chocolate. By providing a deep-time perspective on issues of sustainability and structural inequality, the results will speak directly to social and ecological challenges surrounding chocolate today.
2.00 pm for 2.30 pm at the RISC Centre, London Street, Reading RG1 4PS and from 2:15 on Zoom
Image: An image from a vase. A Mayan lord is presented with a bowl of frothing cacao, or chocolate (Wikipedia Commons)