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Fun Facts

The Aztecs Used Cacao Seeds as Money
By 1200, the ancient Aztecs had developed a taste for chocolate from their Maya neighbors to the south.

Cacao became key to the vast trade empire of the Aztec people—not only as a luxury drink, but also as money, an offering to the gods, and tribute to rulers.

	Cacao wouldn’t grow in Aztec territory, so Aztec traders traveled to Maya lands to purchase seeds. Because cacao was precious cargo, Aztec warriors often protected traders on their long journey.
	Cacao seeds could be used as money for shopping at the market. Customers paid with cacao to purchase food, clothes, and even kitchen tools like the pot seen here. Some dishonest merchants actually made counterfeit cacao seeds, too!
	Chocolate was a special drink reserved only for wealthy Aztecs—merchants, priests, decorated warriors, or kings like the famous Montezuma. (Some reports say he drank 50 goblets of chocolate a day!) People also paid tribute to their ruler with cacao seeds.
	The Aztecs presented offerings of cacao to their god Quetzalcoatl (ket sal koh AH tul), who is often depicted as a feathered serpent.

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