Theobroma cacao priests lancing their ear lobes (autosacrifice) and covering the cacao with blood as a suitable sacrifice to the gods. The cacao beverage as ritual was used only by men, as it was believed to be toxic for women and children. The first European knowledge about chocolate came in the form of a beverage which was first introduced to the Spanish at their meeting with Moctezuma in the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan in 1519. Cortés and others noted the vast quantities of this beverage the Aztec emperor consumed, and how it was carefully whipped by his attendants beforehand. Examples of cacao
Peter Posnette Peter Posnette Peter Posnette (real name Adrian Frank Posnette) (11 January 1914 – 17 July 2004) was a British plant pathologist. He was born in the South Birmingham area and educated at Cheltenham Grammar School. He entered Christ's College, Cambridge to study zoology but then accepted a Colonial Agricultural Service research studentship in plant genetics. After studying at the Cambridge University School of Agriculture, he moved to the Imperial College of Tropical Agriculture in Trinidad to carry out a research project into the pollination of the cocoa tree (Theobroma cacao). In 1937 he moved to the Gold Coast as a