Cocoa Aztec Sculpture

Cocoa Aztec Sculpture

A stone sculpture of an Aztec man holding a cocoa bean pod

Native to Mexico, Central America, and South America, cocoa beans have had a long standing history in the cuisine and culture of Mesoamerican cultures, notably the Olmecs, Mayan, and Aztecs.
The cocoa bean was the subject of plenty of mythology in the early conceptions of these cultures. Gods such as Ykhaua (Mayans) and Quetzalcoatl (Aztecs) were considered to be patron gods of the sacred crop.
Subject to many different usages, cocoa beans were used in a variety of different foods and drinks mostly consumed by Mayan and Aztec elites as well as having been used as currency.

https://www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztec-figures.htm

National Antropology and History Museum of Mexico

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Sculpture