Cacao is used in ancient Ecuador
Residues reveal cacao use at Santa Ana–La Florida.
Density
Cacao, craft and the people behind the barOur World
Chocolate
Trace cacao from ancient American evidence to industrial chocolate and unresolved supply-chain challenges.
Subject guide · scope, chapters & sources ↗A selective history of cacao use and chocolate manufacture. Evidence for early use is not an exact invention date. Maya objects, European processing and African cultivation are distinct histories. The final policy milestone is dated 2024, not a claim that current labour problems are solved.
Official Earth time scaleSelect an eon on the road to reveal its eras.ICS 2026/06 ↗
A Maya vessel names its cacao
An inscribed drinking vessel links cacao with elite social life.
Cacao beverages cross the Atlantic
Chocolate reaches Europe as a drink, before the modern bar.
A press separates cocoa butter
Processing changes make cocoa powder and later chocolate manufacture easier.
Fry's develops a mouldable chocolate bar
Cocoa butter helps turn a mixture into a familiar solid format.
Daniel Peter develops milk chocolate
Reducing milk's water content helps solve a manufacturing problem.
Conching changes chocolate's texture
Lindt's process helps produce a smoother chocolate.
Cacao takes root in the Gold Coast
Ghana's later cocoa economy has a nineteenth-century planting milestone.
Cocoa's labour challenges remain unfinished
A new framework targets child labour in cocoa supply chains.