Chocolate: A Gift from the Pipil to the World

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Every day, all around the world, millions of people speak Pipil: the vocabularies of many languages include the word “chocolate.” When the Spanish arrived to the region of the Izalco Pipil, in present-day El Salvador, chocolate referred to the recipe for a drink prepared from the regional variety of cacao, the bean that is dried and fermented to make cocoa. In pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, recipes for preparing cocoa drinks varied by place and were distinguished by their spice combinations, procedures for preparation, and the particular flavors that the land gave the cacao. Moreover, prior to the Spanish invasion, cocoa beans had been used as currency to pay tribute, set prices, and make everyday purchases. The political heart of the Izalco Pipil —one of the most important pre-Columbian states in southern Mesoamerica— was located in what is now the Department of Sonsonate, in southwest El Salvador. The political power of the Izalco Pipil was based on a system of cocoa production unparalleled in all of Mesoamerica. The region of Izalcos was a land of great riches.

At the beginning of the colonial era, Europeans accepted cacao beans as currency more enthusiastically than they did the food or drink. Over time, however, the colonizers developed a taste for cocoa, and its economic importance increased during the 16th century. From 1562 to 1615, roughly 1.2 billion cocoa beans were exported from the port of Acajutla. While the cocoa trade was of central importance to the colonial economy during those years, prior to 1580, there was no mention of the word “chocolate” in either central Mexico or Europe — only “cocoa” or “cocoa drink.” The word “chocolate” was used mainly in the Pipil area, and referred to a specific drink made from cocoa and annetto (achiote). “Chocolate” has its linguistic origin in the Nahuat spoken throughout the region, which includes the Pipil language, and the word does not appear in Mexican texts until 1580.

What happened in 1580? The price of cocoa rose to more than ten times its previous value, becoming a source of incredible wealth. The region of Izalcos produced more than anywhere else, and became famous as a place to get rich quick. During the period of peak production for Izalco cacao, people began to use the word “chocolate” beyond the borders of Guatemala. The term gained increasingly common usage during the colonial era, eventually becoming a word used worldwide to refer to products containing cocoa. This occurred at the same time that the price of the bean reached unprecedented levels in colonial markets. Chocolate, the Pipil drink made from cocoa, became so iconic that other people began to use its name. This semantic journey had economic and social implications for the inhabitants of Izalcos that would translate into changes in the settlements and in the use of cultural materials.

For example, by official order, the colonial program known as congregaciones (resettlement of Indigenous communities into “congregations,” or towns) was supposed to have started in the Izalcos area around 1550, but archaeological evidence in Caluco, a congregation town, indicate that the population was settled there years later, around 1580. This reflects the colonial strategy of allowing cocoa producers to remain in their places of origin so as not to interrupt their work. There is little evidence of pre-Columbian settlements in the areas adjacent to the Izalcos villages, but we found a large number of artifacts dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Artifacts from the period between 1580 and 1615 are distinguished by the frequent occurrence of contraband items such as porcelain originating from Ming Dynasty China. This pottery is archaeological evidence of trade with the East via galleons from Manila. Regardless of the size of the objects, or whether they were discovered in homesites or workplaces, all of these ceramic pieces are evidence of trade across the Pacific Ocean. Intercolonial trade was prohibited, but evidence of maritime trade can be found across all levels of Izalco society. Clearly, the rapid wealth generated by the cocoa trade was so seductive that many could not resist the temptation to participate in exchanges that were prohibited by law.

In addition, the region participated in legal trade networks by land, as evidenced by the presence of artifacts such as Mayan pottery from Guatemala, which was the most common type of glazed ceramic found in the settlements from this period. In other words, trade in Izalcos was not completely outside the law, nor was it entirely within it.

The population of Izalcos grew during the 18th century, but the inhabitants of Sonsonate had little interest in investing in agricultural alternatives to cacao. The main site of cocoa production had already shifted to Ecuador and Venezuela, where the industry relied on African slave labor rather than the knowledge and skills of Indigenous people. Following the period of peak production in Izalcos, Izalqueños maintained their links with global trade networks. Exports from the region would not recover until the end of the 18th century, when the price of cocoa had already fallen substantially. At the same time, cocoa entered European cuisine as “chocolate,” becoming a common food, while the cultural landscape of Izalcos was transformed into a region dominated by haciendas.

This shift to privately owned land marginalized the Indigenous people who had enabled and promoted the production of cocoa. However, the Pipil cocoa industry survives to this day. Whenever anyone orders “chocolate,” it is a reminder of the product’s Indigenous and colonial past.

Kathryn Sampeck is an Associate Professor of Anthropology at Illinois State University. This article, edited by Erik Ching, is a translated summary of “El Paisaje Cultural de Chocolate: Un Análisis Arqueológico de Los Pipiles Izalcos y Cambios Semánticos en el Mundo Atlántico, Siglos XVI-XIX.” La Universidad 22-24 (2014): 39-54.