Caso Barrera Cacao, Vanilla and Annatto Three Production and Exchange Systems in The Southern Maya Lowlands XVI XVII Centurie

Cacao, vanilla and annatto: three production and exchange systems in the Southern Maya
lowlands, XVI-XVII centuries

Author(s): Laura Caso Barrera and Mario Aliphat Fernández
Source: Journal of Latin American Geography, Vol. 5, No. 2 (2006), pp. 29-52
Published by: University of Texas Press
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Cacao, vanilla and annatto: three production
and exchange systems in the Southern Maya
lowlands, XVI-XVII centuries1
Laura Caso Barrera

Eahoratorio
Etnoecologta
ColegiodePostgraduados,
Campus Puebla
Mario Aliphat Fernandez

Eahoratorio
Etnoecologta
Campus Puebla
ColegiodePostgraduados,
Abstract
In this paper various historic agrosystems in theMaya Lowlands are examined; two of
them specialized in semi-intensive and intensive production of three main crops: cacao,
annatto and vanilla. The paper also examines the political and military pressure exerted
the Itza on the Lacandon and Manche Choi territories which produced these valued
by
exer
crops. After the conquest of Verapaz, Spanish civil and religious authorities also
cised constant pressure over these territories and the encomienda towns of Verapaz traded
with them to obtain cacao and annato. The Manche Choi cacao orchards are
presented
as an
example of true cacao plantations.
Keywords: cacao, annatto, vanilla, chocolate,Southern Maya lowlands, trading systems,It%dMaya,
Manche Choi, Eacandon.
Resumen
En este articulo se analizan diversos agrosistemas en las tierras bajas mayas, dos de los cu
ales se especializan en la
production semi-intensiva e intensiva de tres cultivos relevantes:
se examina la los
cacao, achiote y vainilla. Tambien presion politica y belica que ejercieron
itzaes sobre las poblaciones de los lacandones y choles del Manche, en cuyos territorios
se estos cultivos. Despues de la conquista de La Verapaz, las auto
producian apreciados
ridades civiles y religiosas hispanas tambien ejercieron una presion constante sobre estos
territorios, lo mismo que los pueblos de encomienda que comerciaban con los lacandones
y choles para obtener principalmente cacao y achiote. Las huertas de cacao de los choles
como
del Manche pueden considerarse ejemplos de "verdaderas plantaciones."
Palabras clave: cacao, achiote, vanilla, chocolate, tierras bajas mayas, sistemas de intercambio, itzaes,
cholesdelManche, lacandones.
Introduction
More than fifty years ago, Rene Millon us with the first glimpse of the
provided
complexity of cacao production and trade inMesoamerica where, in his words, "money
on cacao cultivation were
truly grew trees". Property rights, production and regions of
first laid-out as a product of his seminal research (Millon 1955).
The regions currently studied in the production and intensification of the cacao
crop, have neglected the analysis of the historic cacao-producing region located along
the reaches of the main river systems in the Southern Maya Lowlands. This region also
journal ofEatin AmericanGeography,5 (2), 2006
30 Journal of Latin American Geography
had a significant production of annatto and vanilla during the XVI and XVII centuries.
Cacao, annatto and vanilla are products which, a true cultural triad,
together, comprise
represented by the consumption of chocolate among the peoples of Mesoamerica. In
this paper the growing, intensification, exchange and distribution of three products: ca
cao (Theobroma cacao
L.), annatto (Bixa orellana L.) and vanilla (Vanillaplanifoha G. Jackson)
are discussed in the regions occupied by theManche Choi and Lacandon.
Because of its edaphic and climatic conditions, the central Peten, core of the Itza
domain, is a region of poor productivity for growing cacao (Schwartz 1992: 23-25; Atran
1993: 670, 2004: 129). The consumption of ritual drinks such as cacao, flavored with
annatto and vanilla was a basic element at Itza government and council meetings, one
reason these were essential for the consolidation of the
key why products political and
economic power of the ruling elite. All of this brought about the imperious need for
the Itza to integrate into their sphere of influence, the cacao
producing regions of the
Lacandon and Manche Choi, located in the southern area of Peten.
The first section of this paper describes the environmental characteristics of the
Southern Maya Lowlands. The distribution of the distinctive ethnic groups occupying
the region presented here, is based upon an analysis of primary sources.
The progressive encroachment of the Spanish domain beyond the Verapaz re
gion, towards the Peten, is best exemplified by the Spanish entradaswhich in the XVII
century brought about the final conquest of the Manche Choi, Lacandon, Mopan and
Itza, a conquest that had as its underlying purpose control over the rich cacao
producing
lands, as cacao became a
highly priced commodity in New Spain. The Itza represented
the opposing and competing regional power to Spanish intentions. The conspicuous con
sumption of chocolate by the Itza elite supported thewhole structure of

production and
trade of cacao, annatto and vanilla for the entire Maya Southern Lowlands. An analysis
of the agrological components and the ethnohistory of the production, and
processing
trade of the three crops is crucial to an understanding of the significant role played by
the Lacandon and Manche Choi in the regional and wider colonial systems. The interme
diate region between Peten and Verapaz occupied by Choi-speaking groups was, without
an intensive a over the entire area.
doubt, producing region which had major impact
The regions here described also endured the impacts of conquest and financial
control from the later expansion of Hispanic dominance. The Indian villages and in
habitants of Verapaz a new sector of for the control of the
represented competition
production of cacao and annatto of the Manche Choi and Lacandon. The Spanish
conquest, at the end of the XVII century, and the forceful eviction of theManche Choi
and Lacandon from their territories, meant the loss of the
complex systems of intensive
and semi-intensive production in the region.
The Southern Maya Lowlands: settlements and trade routes

TheSouthern Maya Lowlands the Lake District of central Peten, Be
comprise
lize and further south, lands which include the large watersheds of rivers
including the
Usumacinta and its tributaries, as well as part of the Sarstun, Dulce, and Cha
Motagua
melecon (Figures 1 and 2). The region's altitude is below 800 meters and is characterized
a hot and moist climate and an exuberant
by vegetation of lush tropical forests (Morley
etai 1983:31-40).
The Itza, who a related form of Yucatec were the last
speak Maya, independent
Maya polity of the Spanish dominion established in the Lake District of Peten
(Guate
mala), where they developed an active economic and political resistance in an attempt
to prevent
Spanish encroachment into their territory.With great determination the Itza
rebuilt the old
exchange system which existed in the central region of Peten and occupied
Cacao, vanilla and annatto: three production and exchange systems 31
the vacuum left after the Spanish conquest of the Chontal

Maya of Acalan. Key elements
of this were cacao, annatto, vanilla,
exchange system precious feathers, slaves, victims for
sacrifice as well as salt, cotton and even iron tools introduced by the
Europeans. They
achieved their goal by gaining control of the Salinas de los Nueve Cerros (Figure 2)
from the Lacandon. This site is the only source of salt in the entire region. Once they
had gained control of this important product, the Itza forced the Manche Choi and the
Lacandon to this vital resource, mainly for cacao and annatto. This economic
exchange
was means
reorganization imposed by the Itza by of violence, especially forcing the
Manche Choi into submission (Caso Barrera 2002). The Itza were thus able to integrate
and control, at some time, the entire production of cacao and annatto in a vast region
covering the south of Peten, the southeast area of Yucatan and Belize, and as far as the
region of the Gulf of Honduras. This complex production and exchange system lasted
until 1697, when the Itza were finally conquered by Spanish armies (Jones 1998; Caso
Barrera 2002).
The historical Lacandon were a
Maya group that spoke the Choi language (Chol
chi or Cholti to Moran 1695), they inhabited the region to the south and
according
southwest of Peten. They characterized themselves as being deadly enemies of the Itza.
This to live on Lake Miramar in a small island called
people used originally (Chiapas)
Lacantun, and throughout the XVI century they were constantly attacking the encomienda
towns in In 1555 the Acala, a neighboring group, murdered the Dominican friar
Chiapas.
de Vico, whose death became the excuse for continuous raids,
Domingo Spanish military
with the goal of pacifying and conquering both the Acala as well as the Lacandon (de Vos
1980: 73:75). The Spaniards started several punitive raids into the Lacandon one
region,
of which took place in 1586, under the command of Captain Juan de Morales Villavi
cencio. These military incursions forced the Lacandon to leave their
original settlements.
With time, they established a new town called Sac Balam, near the Lacantun River, where
cacao and annatto orchards
they planted maize, (Figure 2).
The Manche Choi also spoke Cholchi or Cholti. were located south and
They
east of the Peten. This were also to seize their
people ravaged by the Itza, who wanted
production of cacao, annatto and vanilla. However, this group has not been well-studied
and it is poorly understood since, in relation to the neighboring Lacandon and Itza, it
appears that their political and social organization was distinctive (Feldman 2000). The
fact of finding them organized in small settlements under the authority of one or more
chieftains, and the apparent non-existence of a principal ruler in this group, has led some
authors to consider them as people with "very simple" social and political organization
(Perez Gonzalez 1993). This image of the Manche Choi was created originally by the
early chronicles of the Dominican Order, in relation with their efforts to convert and
control this group. The friars in general accused
Dominican the Choi of being lazy,
indolent, with a constanttendency

to flee their towns,
lacking
true
political organization,
and of having neither respect nor obedience for their caciques (Ximenez 1973 Vol. 5; Gal
However, an of the historical sources shows the great im

legos 1676). in-depth analysis
portance of the Manche Choi as specialized producers of three main crops, which were
of extreme importance for Mesoamerican in relation to the consumption of
peoples
chocolate, that is, cacao, annatto and vanilla. Even if the Dominican friars complained
that the Choi were lazy and poor, since they only grew small plots with maize, at the same
time they do mention their important production of cacao and annatto (AGI, Guatemala
67,181;Gallegos, 1676).
The journey towards Higueras (now Honduras) by Hernan Cortes in 1525, fol
lowed the routes used by the Itza merchants towards the territory of theManche Choi,
to the was a great trading center, where even some neigh
specifically city of Nito, which
borhoods were
occupied by people from distant places such as Acalan2 (Cortes 1981).
Cortes the opportunity
had to visit the Itza capital of Noh Peten and to meet with the
him instructions and facilitated guides who would
principal ruler named Canek, who gave
take him and his army to the city of Nito, following the routes used by the Itza traders.
Canek reported
to Cortes that in the vicinity of Nito "he had some vassals who served
him working in certain cacaguatales (cacao groves), because these lands were very good
for that purpose" (Ibid. 243). All of this demonstrates that the Itza maintained close
relationships with the Manche Choi. Not only Canek had cacao orchards inside their
territory, there were also profound economic, social and political relationships between
the Itza, the Chontal from Acalan and the Manche Choi. The Chontal were large-scale
of cacao and merchants who traded in cacao, precious feathers,
producers long-distance
were very to drink
jaguar skins, slaves and turtle-shell spoons which highly appreciated
the froth of chocolate (Scholes and Roys 1968: 29-30).
Cortes, in the last stretch of his trip towards Nito, met a Chontal tradesman,
is evidence use the riverwaterways and the overland
which enough that the merchants did
routes controlled by the Itza. In these routes there were ports, resting places and provi
sions (Cortes 1981: 245-246). Cortes himself describes a river port called Tenciz, where
the merchants left their canoes to travel from there towards Noh Peten or towards Choi
territory. Cortes' narrative is very clear when it states that there were no cacao orchards
in the Peten core area and that they were only able to find them towards the southeast,
which was mainly Choi territory. The Spanish conquest of Tabasco and Campeche put
an end to the Chontal's and control of cacao and to their
production long distance trade.
The Itza would fill the void
left by them and would become the leading force of a new
trade network (Jones 1989: 104; Caso Barrera 2002: 231).
After the first Cortes chronicle of the Maya Southern
Lowlands we have many
detailed descriptions written by the Dominican friars who entered this region from the
end of the XVI century and throughout the XVII century, trying to spread the gospel
and to reduce theManche Choi population (Ximenez 1973, Vol. 5). In 1620 Fray Gabriel
de Salazar wrote a area inwhich he made
thorough geographical description of the refer
ence to the settlements of the Manche Choi and Lacandon. This friarwas the first to
a
make trip starting in the Golfo Dulce (close to the Bay of Honduras), traveling to the
north along the shoreline of Belize until he reached Yucatan, south through
continuing
Campeche and Tabasco, and from there traveling overland to Chiapas as a
steppingstone
to Verapaz
(Figure 1). He ended his journey back in the Golfo Dulce, his staring point,
thus completing the first known circuit of theMaya area. (AGI,3 Guatemala 67).
Salazar later undertook a second
trip through Choi and Lacandon territories and
wrote a account of the towns, the cacao and annatto groves, trade routes
highly detailed
and exchange places. In his reports he makes reference for the first time to two main
routes used
by the Choi to reach Noh Peten, capital of the Itza (Figure 2). These reports,
sent by Salazar to the Provincial of his order, were accom
frayAlonso Guirao, originally
a
panied by map, which to date has not been located. The approach used by this friar to
draw his first sketch map is particularly interesting, since he used informants,
indigenous
mainly merchants who knew well the area, as well as some elderly people, from whom
he collected information on the geography of the entire region. The body of data put
together by Friar Salazar, was enriched by cross-referencing the information provided by

different informants as a way to draw comparisons and to confirm their geographical de
scriptions. For example in Coban, the provincial capital of Verapaz, he had an interview
with a bachih, or wise man, at the barrio (neighborhood) of San Marcos. This bachih had
been a prisoner of the Lacandon and knew the area very well. The friar gave the informer
a basket with cacao seeds and asked him to draw with them in the floor,
by placing
0 100Km
SML = Southern
Maya Lowlands
Figure 1. The Maya Region.
rows of cacao seeds where the rivers flowed and in the localities where towns were lo
cated, the bachihwas supposed to cacao seeds. The old man started a
place three drawing
on the earth the that Salazar was him as a to locate and
map using questions asking guide
name the "mouth of rivers, headlands, rocks, hills and resting places".
With the bachih's answers, Salazar started writing labels that he placed on the "riv
ers" of cacao and with this he drew a sketch map on paper. So as to confirm the infor
mation, he removed the seeds from the floor as well as his labels. He erased the map
drawn by the old man and asked him to do it again. He did this for three consecutive
times, until the friarwas satisfied with the old man's answers (AGI, Guatemala 67,
Trade routes
Figure 2. Routes and in theMaya

localities southern lowlands.
1) Route to Noh Peten

via Mopan river, 2) Route to Noh Peten via Rio de la Pa
sion, 3) Route to Xocmo "Feria del Achiote" 4) Route toNoh Peten from Acalan,
5) Route to Noh Peten from Yucatan, 6) Route to Noh Peten from Belize.
f. 24v Feldman 2000: 34-36).

In the description made by Salazar of the Manche Choi towns, these are distrib
uted in an arch towards the northeast and even reached the southern coast of Belize
and from there, south to the Golfo Dulce. The Choi settlements on the southern coast
were Yaxhal,
of Belize Paliac, Campin and Tzoite. The town of Xibun (Sibun) was the
first settlement of people who spoke Yucatec Maya (AGI, Guatemala, 67, ff. 20v-21)
towns of Tzoite, and Mayapan had been granted in encomienda to
(Figure 2). The Campin
Hernando Sanchez de Aguilar during the XVI century, and they had been left under the
jurisdiction of the province of Bacalar4 towns had large cacao
(Jones 1989: 83). These
and annatto orchards as described by Salazar himself "towards the east where the drain
ages of Bacalar were, there is another large town by the name of Yaxal which has four
hundred Indians and beautiful cacao groves, because they
are
falling towards the lands of
Tzoite, where a lot of cacao is grown" (AGI, Guatemala 67, f. 20v). These Choi towns
which had been subject to Hispanic dominance at Bacalar since the XVI century were
in close contact with other Choi towns located further south. The men from Manche
used to visit these towns for suitable women to marry out
searching and they carried
continuous trade with them. The Choi people from Bacalar used to go toManche as well,
as the town of Campin
happened in 1618 when rebelled because they did not want to
at Bacalar. This was the
obey the parish priest principal motive why the majority of the
populationfled south lookingforrefuge(Ibid).
The Manche Choi also settled the head waters and main channel of the Cancuen
River, where several towns were located. These towns included San Miguel Manche,
Chocahau, San Pablo Yaxhaand Santo Domingo Yol, and they produced great quantities
of cacao, annatto and vanilla, as trade centers from where Choi traders took their
acting
or to the encomienda towns of Verapaz,
products either overland through waterways,
such as Coban and Cahabon and to other Maya towns, including the Itza capital.
de Salazar also described the westernmost was popu
Fray Gabriel region which
lated by the Lacandon; their principal settlement was called Sac Balam. According to the
friar, the Lacandon were settled "on the bank of the Tuhal River" River).
(Salinas-Chixoy
This river joins the Pasion River and becomes the Usumacinta River (Figure 2). North
of the Tuhal River, beyond a sinkhole, the Lacandon had lands where cacao
they grew
and annatto, these with the Chuj of San Mateo Ixtatan and with the Itza
trading products
of central Peten. There were two principal routes to Noh Peten, the Itza capital: one
was used by the
went along the Tzibistun (Mopan) River. This waterway peoples of the
southern coast of Belize and by theManche Choi, who used to travel by canoe for two
until arrived at a called Chacchilan, where left their canoes and went
days they place they
on overland until they arrived at Lake Peten, where the Itza capital was located (AGI,
Guatemala 67, f. 19v).
The other way was via the Pasion River, which reached the port of entrance of the
Itza, which, according to Salazar, was fortified and had the name Ilibec ["From Where
You Can See the Road,y] (Figure 2). This route was used by both the Manche Choi
and the Lacandon. When the Spaniards arrived in 1695 at Sac Balam, the Lacandones
denied being in touch or having any commercial relationship with the Itza. However,
the Spanish realized that they did have trade relations, because when going through the
a very well- traveled trail the Itza
Itza village of Saclemacal they found through which
and Lacandon had access to the Manche Choi region (AGI, Guatemala 151 bis, f. 128
v). There was a trading port that fray Francisco Gailegos described in 1676 as the "An
natto Fair", that took place in the town of Xocmo, on the banks of the Sacapulas River,5
where 40 houses had been built and many canoes were moored so that the Lacandon
could go over to Verapaz, and people from Verapaz would be able to cross over to the
lands of Lacandon. It was here, at this trading port, where the Manche Choi and the
Lacandon met to exchange cacao and annatto. The Itza went looking for cacao as did the
towns of Coban, San Agustin Lanquin and Sacapulas in the
people from the encomienda
1676: 6).
Verapaz (Gailegos
The route of the Pasion River was the one traveled by the Mercedarian priest
de Rivas in 1698, after the conquest of the Lacandon. Rivas left the Lacandon
Diego
men
town of Nuestra Senora de los Dolores (originally Sac Balam) by twelve
escorted
with the goal of finding the route towards the Itza which by that time had already
capital,
After leaving the town of
been conquered by Captain Martin de Ursua y Arizmendi.
Dolores, Rivas and his group walked for four days until they boarded boats at the De los
two days until they reached a place called
Dolores River(Lacantun River) and sailed for
El Encuentro de Cristo (where the Lacantun River and the Pasion River join to form the
went on more than three days until they
Usumacinta). From this place they sailing for
arrived at a marsh, from where they went on sailing for two more days, after which they
the Itza, the place where the canoes were left, and
finally arrived at the port of entry of
started making headway overland to the banks of Lake Peten (AGI, Guatemala 345).
The existence of several different river waterways and overland routes used by the Choi
and Lacandon traders to reachthe Itza capital city, confirms the importance that Noh
Peten must have had as an economic and political center.
The Manche Choi and the Lacandon used different routes which allowed them to
trade with peoples who had fled from Spanish domination, such as the Ah Xoy, who were
Kekchi fugitives from Coban. They also traded with other peoples, such as the Mopan
and the Xocmo (who spoke the Itza language). It has also been argued that the Choi and
Lacandon also had routes to trade with encomienda towns such as Coban, Cahabon and
San Mateo Ixtatan inVerapaz. All of this allows us to establish the existence of several
different exchange circuits in the XVII century. The circuit of greatest importance di
rected the production of cacao, annatto and vanilla from the Choi and Lacandon towns
towards the Itza capital, seemingly exchanging these products for salt. This was a com
trade based on the of the Itza, who constantly raided these towns
pulsory military power
(Caso Barrera 2002: 230-231). On the other hand, the Choi and Lacandon bartered
cacao and annatto withthe encomienda towns in for metal tools and salt. It
exchange
should be noted
that the Spaniards and Indians of the encomienda towns of
Verapaz,
also used violent methods to extort cacao and annatto from theManche Choi.
The triad of chocolate: cacao, annatto and vanilla as traditional crops

The existence of semi-intensive and intensive production of cacao, annatto and
vanilla in the regions by the historical Lacandon and Manche Choi, demon
occupied
strate that these were consumed in large quantities in the form of chocolate
products
beverages by members of the Itza ruling elite (Caso and Aliphat 2002). Chocolate has
a and itwas as a
symbolic parallelism with blood precious fluid in
therefore considered
Mesoamerican cosmogony 1956; Coe 2004:
and Coe 208; Coe
1999: 59).
(Thompson
In this sense we can say that itwas a drink reserved for nobles and the
strictly indigenous
elites. The symbolic complex represented by chocolate and its relationship with royal
power and lineage is stated as a riddle in a text in the language of Zuyua6, in the so-called
books of Chilam Balam:
"My son, bring me four Chac Dzidzib, Cardinal Birds, those that can
be found at the entrance of the cave and on my
bring them standing
precious food. Let me see them with their head tufts rendered red and
let them come on my food when you come
standing straight precious
before me".
"And so itwill be, oh Father! This that he is
asking for is the Ciui, An
natto-in-a-paste, the head-tufts he is speaking about is the foam of the
chocolate and his precious breakfast is
freshly ground cacao". (Barrera
Vasquez and Rendon 2005: 134).
It was annatto that gave chocolate the red color that made people as
precisely
sociate itwith blood; in addition, itmust have given it a characteristic flavor (Coe 2004:
206-208). In addition to annatto, theMaya of the lowlands seem to have seasoned and
aromatized their chocolate with vanilla. In several different Mesoamerican cultures we
find a close association between
drinks prepared with cacao and vanilla. the
Among
Mexicas, honey, vanilla, fragrant plants and flowers were added to chocolate with which
were able to obtain drinks of several different colors and flavors
they (Durand-Forest
1967:164).
In addition to a close between the growing and tending of
finding relationship
cacao, annatto and vanilla and their under the form of chocolate, we note
consumption
that all three require transformation processes that give these products unique charac
teristics. Fuentes y Guzman (1932, Vol.2: 390) states that a Maya lord by the name of
was the one who discovered the of cacao. to this author,
Hunahpu processing According
is a historical Quiche ruler, but we think that this is a direct reference to the
Hunahpu
personage mentioned in the Popol Vuh. Cacao a chemical and
mythical requires physical
process that takes four basic steps which are: fermentation, drying, toasting and sieving.
This process, that allows the transformation of cacao seeds into high quality chocolate,
dates back to at least 3,000 years 1985: 183-208; Coe and Coe 1999: 30-31).
(Enriquez
Vanilla also requires a modification process, similar to that of cacao; the
fruit of the orchid which has a green must be cured and dried so
originally pod
that it will become a thin, dark-colored a characteristic fra
pod which produces
grance (Bruman 1948: 361). does not require a fermentation process, but it
Annatto
does need the extraction of the dye, by means of soaking and cooking the seeds. In
the Relaciones geogrdficas of Guatemala we can find a of how the Indians
description
from Verapaz obtained the annato dye and molded into cakes to be sent to market:
the milpa and among the houses there are various evergreen
Among
trees full of leaves which fruit, similar to chestnuts, which have
produce
inside of them several tiny grains covered in a crimson colored wax. The
Indians take these grains in large amounts and cook them during long
out
periods of time, until all color is drawn together with the grease of
the grains which floats on the water. With this dough they form some
cakes. It is a kind of spice which provides color to their drinks, and the
ladies of this land can bear witness to this happening.
(Acuna 1982: 231).

The Lacandon and particularly the Manche Choi, had ample knowledge of their
to grow cacao, annatto and vanilla in a semi-inten
agro-ecosystems, which allowed them
sive and intensive manner. In addition they must have had abundant and highly special
ized labor devoted to the necessary transformation processes demanded for these prod
ucts. We also know that not only did they plant and transform the crops associated with
the consumption of chocolate, but that they also maintained a trade network,
complex
which allowed them to exchange these products in on-going long distance trade.
Agricultural systems in the Southern Maya lowlands

The different Maya peoples, during prehispanic times and at present, have dis
tinguished themselves by their efficient and complex agricultural milpa system (a polyc
ulture agro-ecosystem of maize-beans-squash and tubers) (Hernandez-Xolocotzi et al.
1995), and by intensive agro-ecological systems for the traditional growing of crops in
raised fields, terrace systems, bounded fields, in the fertile lowlands along the rivers, etc.
and Turner 1978; Gliessman et al. 1981). From the standpoint of
(Turner 1978; Harrison
arboreal the Maya have an in the management of the
species, outstanding background
rainforests, home gardens, planting trees in rejqyadas (soil traps in
tropical by growing
karstic landscapes), constructing tolches,which are fields for cultivation clearly bounded
as shaded orchards with intensive and semi-intensive
by tree hedges acting pathways, and
cultivation of arboreal species, as well as in managed or artificial rainforests which, in
a structure and composition of the tropical rain forest
simplified manner, replicate the
et al. 1977; Gomez-Pompa 1987; Gomez-Pompa et al. 1990; Wiseman 1978,
(Barrera
1983).
to
In the Maya lowlands, under the milpa system, a plot of land is cleared plant
maize associated with corn-beans-squash and tubers. However, many arboreal species are
not destroyed when the original vegetation is being cleared. Some trees are protected and
even to grow thus these an
advantage in the succes
encouraged giving species ecological
sion process which is being established when the milpa is abandoned after two or three
years of production (Baer and Merrifield 1981; Nations and Night 1980;
agricultural
Gomez-Pompa 1987; Atran 1993: 682-687, 2004: 14-15). All of this is an example of
and it implies an intentional modification of the course of
targeted ecological processes
succession which produces the enrichment of the tropical rainforest diversity
ecological
with useful plants and trees which results in a "man made" rain forest (Barrera etal\911\
Martin 2001). There is therefore a relationship of succession in the management of the
forest the which starts from the of the land and ends with the
tropical by Maya, clearing
reestablishment of the original forest, by a series of steps: primary tropical rain forest
>
milpas
>
secondary vegetation
>
orchards/plantations of arboreal spp. > secondary
tropical forest.
The milpa system of the present-day Lacandon, consists in cutting down the
or rainforest and then burn the stubble and plant selected
primary secondary tropical
species in the milpas. They plant and harvest their milpas for two to five consecutive
years, but before abandoning the milpa they plant different species of trees which have
economic value, this allows the reestablishment of the vegetation with an "enriched"
rainforest (Baer and Merrifield 1981: 177-209; Nations and Nigh 1980: 8). The central
idea which can be from the of the modern Lacandon, is the
gleaned agricultural system
slow replacement of the non-economic species for economic ones, always trying to pre
serve the
ecological balance of the tropical forest ecosystem. The present-day Lacandon
are characterized in
milpas by the large diversity of species under cultivation, because,
addition to maize, beans and grow several different types of roots
planting squash, they
and tubers, fruit trees, cacao, annatto, cotton, tobacco, among many other species (Na
tions and Nigh 1980: 10).
Both the mixed-cropped orchards as well as themilpas, show a close relationships
and continuity with the agricultural systems existing in the Maya Lowlands during the
XVI and XVII centuries, even though some distinctive variations exist between them.
We have found several historical descriptions of three agricultural systems, two of them
are very similar to the present a third system
day Lacandon milpas, and represented by
the orchards of theManche Choi, might be considered akin to true "plantations" (Go
mez 1987: 6). The ecological succession bears an intimate relationship with the
Pompa
management of the exposure of certain species to the conditions of light and shade.
In this sense we may say that the Lacandon and the specialized orchards of the
milpas
Manche Choi, had an form of which allowed the
extremely sophisticated management
of cacao, vanilla and annatto with other Cacao and vanilla
growing together plant species.
are
planted in the shade, whereas maize is grown under the open sky, because of its de
mand of sunlight. Annatto is a small tree which grows well in open sky and requires little
it an intermediate extremes.
shade, occupies position between the previously described
At the level of home gardens, the combination of arboreal species, bushes, herbaceous
plants and other species imply great sophistication in the management of the structure,
composition and function of the vegetation from the ecological standpoint (Gliessman
1998).
The Itza milpas

The soils of Central Peten are neither fertile nor deep enough for the intensive
cacao orchards
growing of (Schwartz 1992: 23-25; Atran 1993: 670, 2004: 129). In his
travels towards Honduras, as has been stated above, Cortes did not find cacao orchards in
Peten. He mentions the presence of cacao only upon arrival at the Choi
province of Ta
huytal (Cortes 1981: 245). Canek pointed out to Cortes, that his lands in Peten were not
good for the production of cacao and that itwas the reason why his cacao orchards were
located in the region close to Nito. It should be emphasized that the Itza ruler possessed
cacao orchards, which were grown by "his vassals", a fact that
emphasizes what Millon
established about the private property of trees; basically cacao trees were the exclusive
propertyof theelites (Millon 1955: 698-712).

The
Spaniards described the Itza as "lazy" people because they had small milpas.
However this strategy had proven to be successful in reducing the danger of loss of
crops caused by pests and diseases. By having several small plots of land in different
one as a result of pests or adverse
places, agricultural stability is increased; if milpa is lost
weather conditions, there is always the possibility of some other
having milpas flourish
(Wiseman 1978: 98). The Itza had several types of milpas cultivated by individuals or
families, as well as community plots which had large granaries which were used to store
the crops tomeet the needs of the community and to pay tribute. There were also
milpas
that belonged to rulers and as the ones that were cultivated for Canek
principales, such by
the people of his domain called canekes (Caso Barrera 2002: 228).
In these different types of agricultural plots, the Itza grew a great variety of dif
ferent plant species, a type of polyculture, which allowed them to harvest a great diversity
of products during the annual cycle. According to the sources consulted,
documentary
we find that the most in the Itza were maize, beans, ibes
frequent crops present milpas
(Phaseolus lunatus), squash, chayote,cotton, tobacco, annatto, yucczjlcama, yams, taro, pine
cacao trees, vanilla,
apples, few indigo and grana (Figure 4a). They also planted species
introduced by the Spaniards, such as sugar cane, bananas, watermelons and citrus trees to
which they had access via their contact with fugitive Indian towns and encomienda towns
(Hellmuth 1977: 433-438; Caso Barrera 2002: 228-229).

In abandoned milpas (acabuales), the Itza planted useful trees and cared for other
wild species of economic as it is done
importance such by the modern Lacandon in Chi
apas and the present day Yucatec Maya (Baer and Merrifield 1981; Barrera Marin 1981;
Gomez Pompa 1987; Nations and Nigh 1980). There were cacao trees in these orchards,
carefully grown and protected with pataxte, (Tbeobroma bicolorHumb. & Bonpl.)
together
(Protium copal Schltdl. et Cham.), annatto (Bixa orellana L.),
copal allspice (Pimenta dioica [L]
Mer.), rubber (Castilla elastica Sesse et Cerv.), sisal (Agavepourcrqydes Lemaire), logwood
(Haematoxilum campechianum L.), balsamo (Myroxylon balsamum L.) and other plants such
as vanilla {Vanilla planifolia G. Jackson,), zarzaparrilla (Smilax aspera L.) and plants that
produced dyes of great importance for the manufacture of spun threads for textiles.
as the tree called santamaria
They also grew medicinal plants such (Calophyllum brasiliense
Camb.) (AGI, Escribanfa 339B n.5, f.356; Patronato 237 R.11, f.633; Guatemala 151 bis,
f.!26v).
Itza orchards with cacao, pataxte, annatto and vanilla produced only enough for
local consumption at a much reduced scale, since most of these valued products were
obtained by means of trade. The Itza elite consumed large
amounts of
beverages made
from cacao flavored with annatto and vanilla, and to satisfy their ever increasing cacao
needs, the Itza established over the and exchange of these

regional control production
resources which came to an end in 1697 with the Spanish conquest (Caso Barrera 2002;
Jones 1998).
The Lacandon milpas

In 1586, Captain Juan de Morales Villavicencio wrote a detailed report on the en
trada that he organized to

pacify the Lacandon who were settled at the time in Lacantun,
close to Lake Miramar After the fall of their main settlement, the Lacandon
(Chiapas).
fled and took refuge in their milpas which were located as far as eight or ten leagues (44
to 55 kms.) from Lacantun towards the east (Archivo General de Centroamerica,7 L. 333
Ex. 7011). Morales strategy was to give relentless chase to the Lacandon,
Villavicencio's
locate their milpas their granaries, destroying both, so they would
and surrender. The
has on the types of
original report valuable information agricultural plots and crops of
to this
the Lacandon. According testimony, they had, like the Itza, different types of
that belonged to individuals and families, commu
agricultural plots: milpas milpas of the
that to
nity, and milpas belonged rulers and principales. The first plots that Captain Mo
rales ordered to destroy belonged to the
cacique Cabnal. These were 40
large and small
to be harvested.
milpas, which had maize ready In theirmilpas the Lacandon planted, in
addition to maize, yams and other tubers, fruit and cacao trees. The Spaniards uprooted
all plants and trees and burned them together with six or seven granaries filled with maize
and legumes (AGCA, L. 333 Ex. 7011, f. 7v).
The Lacandoncarried out multiple cropping. In addition to maize they planted
beans, chile, yams, other tubers and roots, pineapples, bananas and fruits (Figure 4b).
Distinctively from the Itza, the Lacandon had many cacao and annatto trees in their mil
pas, because their soils were definitely apt for these crops and they had a semi-intensive
arrangement of production. (Figures 3 and 4b). In his report Captain Morales states
that he himself destroyed, cut and burned 90 of these other small ones which
milpas plus
were not taken into account (Ibid. 13v).
In spite of the harassment and persecution suffered by the Lacandon, were
they
ableto resist the attacks and reestablished their main settlement named
Spanish finally
Sac Balam, near the Lacantun River. Their lands were described as "very fertile with
cacao, cotton, honey, maize and many other legumes and lots of fish" (AGCA, Leg. 1546
Ex. 31534, f. 3v). After several adverse confrontations with the the Lacandon
Spaniards,
got gradually weaker and lost control of the saltworks at Nueve Cerros, at the hands of
the Itza. Forced by the need to obtain salt, the Lacandon were to trade with the
required
Itza, providing them their production of cacao and annatto. The Lacandon also traded
with the Chuj of San Mateo Ixtatan, a town located 66 km. southwest of Sac Balam.
They used to exchange cacao and annatto for salt and iron tools of the Chuj (Caso Bar
rera 2002: 259).
Bishop Navas yQuevedo described this trade in 1684:
[....] The Lacandon Indians have dealings with those of San Mateo Ix
tatan and to this town cacao and annatto from their land to be
bring
bartered for salt, reales and iron tools for to
tilling. I have been able buy
very good and thick cacao." (AGI, Guatemala 158)
The Lacandon traders were in regular and constant

engaged dealings with the
Chuj and continually visited their town for trade purposes and even hid in their homes
when any Spaniard arrived suddenly and unannounced. With the Kanjobal from Santa
Eulalia (some 88 to 110 kms. from Sac Balam), the Lacandon were in constant con
frontation. Historical documents mention that an Indian named Luis Cotta, from Santa
into the Lacandon
entered fruit trees such as cacao,
Eulalia, milpas where they had "some
bananas, sugar cane and zapote" to steal their fruit
(AGI, Guatemala 158). As has been
mentioned, for several different Mesoamerican cultures, especially theMaya trees
groups,
were considered
private property, particularly cacao trees, which generally belonged
to
the governing elite. fruit from these trees without permission was considered a
Taking
so much so that
major offense, starting from the incident with Luis Cotta, the Lacandon
declared war against the people of Santa Eulalia, which was raided on many occasions,
even the extreme of
reaching taking prisoners for human sacrifice (Ibid).
The importance of the milpas and orchards is also reflected in Lacandon reli
were so that
gion: their gods revered theywould protect the milpas, cacao orchards and
animals. Drinks made from cacao as well as ground cacao were offered to their gods:
a in the courtyard, made

[...] they shaped big bundle of sticks and leaves,
while burninglotsof pine [Pinussp.] and copal [incense]and offeredit
food and drink, and sprayed cacao and maize upon the bundle and at
its feet on top of a slab of stone, they placed large
amounts of ground
cacao and animal fat.
(AGI, Guatemala 153, f. 274v).
Itwas not until 1695 that the Spaniards were able to conquer the "fearful" Lacan
don nation, when they took their last capital Sac Balam by surprise, which then received
the Spanish name of Nuestra were
Senora de los Dolores. They forcibly removed from
their lands and were taken to the highlands of Guatemala where most of them ultimately
died (Ximenez 1973 Vol. 5: 446-447; de Vos 1980:190-211). The forceful removal of the
Lacandon left their lands abandoned, which meant the regional collapse of the
surely
of cacao and annatto. The were unable to reestablish the produc
production Spaniards
tion of these crops, because with the disappearance of the Lacandon, knowledge of their
semi-intensive and traditional management was lost forever.
production
The Pakaboob orManche Choi orchards

Cacao orchards could only be established successfully in the fertile valleys with
deep soils neighboring the region of central Peten, along the large rivers such as the Usu
macinta, Pasion-Salinas, the rivers in Belize and the Polochic-Izabal- Dulce river system,
as well as in the valley of the Sula River inHonduras. The core area of this extensive re
gion
was
occupied by theManche Choi and was a zone of intensive production of cacao
not been mentioned in the relevant works of the specialists
(Figure 3). This region has
on the
topic (Bergmann 1969; Coe y Coe 1999; McLeod 1973). Until now, there was
no
description of the intensive management that the Choi carried out in their orchards
called in Cholti, pakab. The ethnohistorical data we analyzed, indicate that in these groves
the Choi intensively produced cacao, vanilla and annatto (Figure 4). The large extension
and high productivity of these pakab as well as their remarkable makes
specialization
them true "plantations."
To the northeast this type of orchards were found along the Belize coastal region,
where there were Choi people living in close vicinity of Yucatec Maya populations (AGI,
the encomienda town of Tipu, which was a Yucatec Maya
Guatemala 67). At settlement,
are made of cacao
plantations such as the ones of the Manche Choi. In
descriptions
this town one 8,000 cacao trees. since Prehispanic times,
principal possessed Seemingly,
this town had been producing cacao, annatto and vanilla. Twelve leagues (66 kms.) from
was the town of Lucu, also of Yucatec Maya where, according to the Franciscan
Tipu,
"the best annatto in all of the New as well as an excellent
friar Fuensalida, they had Spain,
thick cacao, red in color and with an excellent flavor, as well as vanillas that they call
42 Journal of Latin American
Geography
ca.
Figure 3. Cacao producing regions in the southern Maya lowlands, 16th-17th
centuries.
ci^biques, very good and fragrant for chocolate" (Lopez de Cogolludo 1971 Vol. II: 215).
Lucu was considered a very prosperous town because of its large number of cacao or
chards. These specialized orchards in the Yucatec must have been introduced
villages by
the neighboring Choi populations.
The main Manche Choi settlements were distributed from the south of Belize and
lower part of the Polochic River, north to a region around Lake Izabal. Their lands had
limits to the north and to the west with those of the Itza, Mopan, Xocmo and Lacandon
as well as with other peoples to the south such as the Kekchi towns of Cahabon and
Coban inVerapaz. As has been mentioned, the Choi planted small milpas and concen
trated their agricultural activity in their orchards of cacao and annatto (AGI Guatemala
67, 181). These crops required hard and highly specialized work, which started with the
or
planting of nurseries (called inCholtf petconob petpacab) to obtain seedlings. These were
planted with extreme and constant care so as to avoid infestations or any damages.
The Manche Choi grew two kinds of cacao: the normal called cacau (cacao) and a
cacao called uaalcab also had two harvests a year of annatto
large (Moran 1695). They
Figure 4. Agrosystems of the southern Maya lowlands, a) Itza milpa, b) Lacandon milpa,
- 17th centuries.
c) Manche Choi cacao orchards, ca. 16th
or was called %ut%il or winter annatto,

quivi in Cholti. The first quivi andyaxkzni/ quivi or
summer annatto. The of this spice and colorant also required
growing and processing
very hard work, since the dye had to be extracted and shaped into cakes, for the market.
Vanilla was chisbic'm Cholti, its processing was also highly specialized and demand
called
ed much work since the pods had to be cured and dried to obtain a
superior quality
sources do not to whom
product. The historical specify these orchards belonged, but,
it is almost certain they were the property of their rulers and In Cholti the
principales.
term hit%inbilmeans "forbidden tree", which supports the interpretation of trees as pri
vate property.
The fertile valley systems were not only important for the cacao or
growing of
chards, but also allowed the development of important trade routes. There were wa
terways and overland routes linking Choi towns that served as ports, resting places and
centers (AGI, Guatemala
trading 67). We know that some Choi principales were great
tradesmen who monopolized the trade with the Itza and with the encomienda towns
inVerapaz. Before the arrival of the Spaniards an intricate commercial network existed
between theManche Choi, Itza and the Chontal of Acalan. After the Spanish conquest,
the Choi took advantage of their vicinity to the Kekchi encomienda towns of Cahabon
and Coban to carry out a continuous trade with them for salt and metal tools in exchange
for cacao and annatto, as stated in 1605 by Fray Juan de
Esquerra:
And later they have come many other times. I had once twenty two
[Manche Choi] here in Cahabon on the of the festivity of the

day
town which is the Nativity of Our Lady.
Every time that they came we
to them and told them to receive the
preached gospel and they always
gave the same answer. I sent messengers many times and sent them salt
(they do not have any in their country) and some knives and machetes that
they hold in great esteem. (AGI, Guatemala 181).
Among the Manche Choi different words are used to refer to tradesmen: one is aical,
which translates as rich person and refers to traders to the elite. There are also
belonging
the terms ahpolon and ah chonwhich refer to common merchants
(Moran 1695). It seems
that the kinsmen of the rulers acted as aicaloob, as must have been the case of the son of
the great lord Acusaha, as cited in the testimony of Andres Fernandez in 1600:
Pareja
[....] and then, at that time, they came [theManche Choi] to buy salt and
other necessary
things under the mandate of their great lord, whose son
was there amongst them, and whom much. He told
they respected very
me that on behalf of all
[Spaniards], I should write to their great lord his
father, named Acusaha [Ah Cusaha?] and should send him messengers,
so that deal with the case. He
they would promised to tell his father
about the good treatment that he and all the other Indians had received
(AGI, Guatemala 59, ff. 2-2v).
In spite of the constant statements of the friars over the

simple political organi
zation of the Choi and the little respect
they had for their authorities, the above docu
ment us a different
gives perspective by pointing out the existence of a great lord whom
"they respected very much". This document, dated 1600, seems to demonstrate that
the political organization of theManche Choi was gradually being modified
through the
XVII century. We assume that this was due to the constant attacks carried out
by the
Itza as well as the fact of
polity, being under continuous pressure by the Spaniards and
the Dominican Order, which tried to convert them whatever the cost (AGI, Guatemala
179;Tovilla 1960: 265). To the invitationextended in 1600 by theAlcalde Mayor of
to convert to the Catholic faith and to become vassals of the Span
Verapaz asking them
ish Crown, the Choi excused themselves by saying that they "were busy
harvesting their
cacao and Guatemala
milpas" (AGI, 59).
Throughout theXVII century the efforts of civil and church authorities of Gua
temala to conquer and convert the Choi, did not come to an end (Ximenez 1973). Itwas
a and troubled because of the resistance the Manche Choi, as
long process presented by
stated by Fray Agustin Cano, "the barbarous Indians of those mountains are trouble-free,
as
just they easily accept the faith, they easily abandon it" (AGI, Guatemala 152 f. 36). No
one can blame the Manche Choi for their "lack of constancy" because, once reduced,
were easy prey to the towns of
they Spanish and Indian authorities of the encomienda
soon
Verapaz, who enough started exploiting and extracting them their resources and
labor. This was the case in 1678, when the Alcalde Mayor of Verapaz, Sebastian de
Olivera, decided to "seize from the poor, newly converted [Manche Choi] their annatto,
cacao and vanillas" of Chiapas, Yucatan
(Bancroft Library, Documents and Guatemala
MM-4338). This was done by appointing as Indian governor of the town of Cahabon, a
certain Bartolome Coc, his accessory, who imposed compulsory trade practices with the
Manche Choi and forced them to receive metal tools and other wares at extremely high
prices in exchange for annatto, cacao and vanilla. Each machete was sold to them for
a
xiquipil of cacao (8,000 grains of cacao), when in Guatemala City a machete used to
cost four reales (Ibid). Through the same historical source, we know that up to seventy
machetes were acquired by one Manche Choi town, as well as many other goods in the
same visit. If one takes into consideration that one grain of cacao weighs around one
us an idea of
gram, a xiquipil of cacao weighed approximately eight kgs., which gives
the production of cacao of one town. In the aforementioned case, the price paid by the
Manche Choifor seventy machetes was 560 kgs. of cacao.
Aftercacao, the second important product for exchange was annatto. In 1626,
one Manche Choi town 920 at that time worth 1,700 pesos (AGI,
only produced kgs.,
Guatemala 181). From the standpoint of the exploitation endured by this group at the
hands of the Alcalde Mayor Sebastian de Olivera and his associate, the Indian governor
Bartolome Coc, it is important
to note that in Tipu (Belize), one xiquipil of cacao cost
around 10.5 reales in the mid XVII century (Jones 1989: 112). In addition we know that
in Guatemala in 1678, one iron machete cost four reales. The seventy machetes which
had been Choi for a total of 70 xiquipiles of cacao, were worth the
sold to the Manche
if
of 735 reales; they had been acquired inGuatemala City, their price would
equivalent
have been 280 reales, which means that Olivera and Coc were leftwith a huge profit of
455 reales. The Manche Choi were forced to pay 2.5 times their original price. In an in
direct way this is evidence that the Choi orchards were under intensive production, since
not only the demands of the Itza, under the threat of violent retribu
they had tomeet
tion, but they also had to meet the demands of the Spanish authorities who imposed
tribute and even more, this cacao production had also to fulfill the needs of the
heavy
encomienda townsfolk who had to resort to trade with the Choi, to have access to these
were as part of their own tax and tribute burden. As
products which being demanded
was Francisco Gallegos in 1676:
emphasized by Fray
The Catholic Indians in the neighborhood of Manche, believe that

living
are their Indies, from where a rev
those mountains they receive large
enue, which on the one hand consists of a lot of cacao, and on the other
hand the more than thirty six thousand of annatto which exit
pounds
through Verapaz and the Castillo [del Golfo].The Indians of Verapaz

have very few, if any, plants of annatto, and this latter part is for certain
(Gailegosl676: 3; italicsadded).
The production of cacao and annatto of theManche Choi orchards became in

at the end of the XVII century into the colonial market of Guatemala
corporated by
means of trade and the repartimiento system. Such cacao production has not been quan
tified nor its significance adequately considered by scholars. A careful analysis of the
significance of this production and the effects of its collapse should be considered in
studies of the cacao booms in colonial Guatemala.
By 1689,with the assistance of the Indians of Cahabon, theManche Choi popula

tion was collected together and then forcibly relocated to theValley of Urran in the
high
lands (Ximenez 1973, Vol. 5: 281: 462-465). Such forced relocation brought about the
abandonment and finally led to their disappearance.
of their orchards In 1699, Captain
Marcelo Flores, at the Presidio of Peten, and who in the conquest
assigned participated
of the Itza, stated that some Choi and Mopan Indians were still living inwhat had been
their lands, and that he had been able to realize this because of the great care that was
evidenced in the cacao and vanilla groves:
[....] that I sent sergeant Martin de Montoya to follow some trails bus
tlingwith Indians who live in villages in those mountains, which, accord

to my way of are the ones that have limits with those of
ing thinking,
the Gulf [Dulce] and which belong to several different nations such as
the Mopan and Choi, and nowadays there is a town of more than four
hundred people that belongs to the doctrine of the priests of Santo Do
mingo, which is the town of Belen, close to Rabinal. And in all of these
localities that there are Indians using these paths and
there is evidence
trails at their own manner and habits, as is evidenced in the care and tidiness
cacao and vanilla orchards and
of their otherfruits. (AGI, Guatemala 151 bis,
f. 134v; italics added).
By the year 1710 in the town of Belen, in the Valley of Urran, there were only
four Manche Choi left.The whole population had died from disease, famine and "mel
ancholy" (Ximenez 1971, Vol. 6: 220). With the disappearance of the Manche Choi,
all knowledge about the specialized orchards in the production of cacao, annatto and
vanilla, was lost.
Conclusions
The Chontalpa, Soconusco, and Izalco, have been considered
Suchitepequez by
scholars to be the all inclusive
regions of intensive cacao production, for prehispanic and
colonial periods (Bergmann1969; Fowler 1993;Gasco 1990; Scholes and Roys 1968;
Voorhies and Gasco research on the relationships of the Itza
2004). However, polity with
theManche Choi and with the historic Lacandon (Caso Barrera: 2002; Caso Barrera and
Aliphat 2002), has allowed us to outline and define the Lacandon and Manche Choi ter
ritories as a new and vital cacao
producing region, which in addition provided significant
quantities of annatto and vanilla, crops of great relevance for theMaya. This region was
a liminal area between the
independent territory of the Itza and the Kekchf populations
under Spanish rule at Verapaz.
The study of different regional agrosystems, from the standpoint of environ
mental history, has helped us to differentiate at least three historical
agrosystems present
in the region, which show different degrees of integration and intensification of cacao
farming (Figure 4). These three agrosystems imply the management of the ecological
structure and diversity and represent a was to
practice whose goal modify and control
different stages of ecological succession of the tropical rainforest. Cacao requires the
can
trees which
presence of shade provide support for the vines of vanilla. Annatto
it in an intermediate on the
demands light, placing position luminosity requirements of
maize and other species grown inmilpas.
The Itza milpas and orchards created a complex mosaic of productive manage
ment of multifaceted among the species of the tropical rainforest and the
interactions
areas under cultivation. Itza growers transformed the structure of the forests of
The
the Peten region and enriched them with arboreal species of economic importance. The
agricultural limits imposed by the shallow soils of medium and low fertility characteristic
of central Peten, defined the agroecological limits of the intensification processes of ca
cao annatto and vanilla limitations are basic to understand
production. These ecological
the expansion of the Itza to the south, to gain control on the one hand, of the saltworks
of Nueve Cerros, as well as the neighboring cacao
producing regions, of the Lacandon
and Acala to the southwest and on the other hand, to under their sphere of influ
bring
ence the territories of theManche Choi, in the fertile valleys of the Pasion River and its
tributaries. All of these Choi-speaking populations had to face the constant and ferocious
pressure of the Itza.

The Lacandon of Sac Balam, at the time of their conquest by the Spaniards, had
a system of inwhich they grew not only maize, beans, squash, and tubers but also
milpas
a number of arboreal species among which, were their
kept under cultivation significant
semi-intensive cacao and annatto orchards. In the other hand the Manche Choi were
as an apathetic
described by the Spaniards people, who grew very small milpas and lived
a careful
in little settlements dispersedin the region. However, analysis of the historical
sources shows that theManche Choi were highly specialized cacao farmers and
produc
ers of annatto and vanilla. The orchards of the Manche Choi, can be considered an
to their
example of intensive cultivation and due productivity, extension, labor demands
and marked can be defined as true
specialization plantations.
The region of the Southern Maya Lowlands is shaped like a fertile crescent which
extends from Tabasco to the Gulf of Honduras (Figure 1). This region formed the
geographical and landscape of the exchange
economic system established during the
were in
post-classic period by the Chontal of Acalan, which specialized long distance
trade on luxury goods cacao. The realm caused by the
including collapse of the Chontal
Spanish conquest left a vacuum which was filled by the Itza, who for eight katun periods
(160 years) were and exploit a commercial

able to reestablish system based on cacao, an
salt, axes and as well as
natto, vanilla, iron machetes, defending their autonomy against
Peta and Map, the Choi of Yol, Yaxha,
the Spanish. The Lacandon people of Sac Balam,
Chocahau, Manche, Yaxhal, Campin and Tzoite, the Yucatec settlements of Tipu and Xi
bun as well as the encomienda towns of the Kekchi from Coban, Lanquin and Cahabon
were witnesses to the Itza supremacy, which collapsed abruptly with the capture of Noh
Peten by Martin de Ursua yArizmendi in 1697.
Notes
1The authorswish to thankCONACYT
(NationalCouncil of Science andTechnology)
for the financial support through the Project "Relationships among theMayas of Yucat
an, El Peten and La Verapaz, XVII-XIX" 40088-H, to do research and present an early
version of this paper at the II Symposium of Environmental on Latin America
History
and the Caribbean in the Session "New stories on the rainforests of Latin America and
at Havana, Cuba. The anonymous

the Caribbean" coordinated by Christian Brannstrom
reviewers of the original paper and their pertinent commentaries are
graciously acknowl
David Robinson has also a great number of critical and
edged. provided always helpful
editorial comments forwhich we are immensely grateful.
2
The
province of Acalan was Chontal and was located in Tabasco and south of
It was ruled by Paxbolonacha the time of Cortes.
Campeche. during
3
Archivo General de Indias, hereafter AGI.
4
The province of Bacalar comprised the southern part of Quintana Roo and the north
of Belize.
5
Actually itwas located on the tributary called Icbolay, which joins the Chixoy down
stream from Salinas de los Nueve Cerros.
6
The a series of riddles that the
Zuyua language consisted of Maya rulers of Yucatan
were under the obligation to know and answers to, in order to have access to
provide
government.
7
Archivo General de Centroamerica, hereafter AGCA
8
Bancroft Library Documents of Chiapas, Yucatan and Guatemala MM-433, hereafter
BL-CHYG-MM-433. Informe del prior del convento de Coban al arzobispo de Guate
mala, Andres de Navas yQuevedo, Coban 6 de febrero de 1685.
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Cacao, vanilla and annatto: three production and exchange systems in the Southern Maya

lowlands, XVI-XVII centuries

Laura Caso Barrera

Mario Aliphat Fernandez

journal ofEatin AmericanGeography,5 (2), 2006

sumption of chocolate by the Itza elite supported thewhole structure of

The Southern Maya Lowlands: settlements and trade routes

the vacuum left after the Spanish conquest of the Chontal

indolent, with a constanttendency

However, an of the historical sources shows the great im

together by Friar Salazar, was enriched by cross-referencing the information provided by

Figure 1. The Maya Region.

Figure 2. Routes and in theMaya

1) Route to Noh Peten

f. 24v Feldman 2000: 34-36).

The triad of chocolate: cacao, annatto and vanilla as traditional crops

ladies of this land can bear witness to this happening.

(Acuna 1982: 231).

Agricultural systems in the Southern Maya lowlands

The Itza milpas

propertyof theelites (Millon 1955: 698-712).

(Hellmuth 1977: 433-438; Caso Barrera 2002: 228-229).

needs, the Itza established over the and exchange of these

The Lacandon milpas

trada that he organized to

The Lacandon traders were in regular and constant

a in the courtyard, made

(AGI, Guatemala 153, f. 274v).

The Pakaboob orManche Choi orchards

or was called %ut%il or winter annatto,

[Manche Choi] here in Cahabon on the of the festivity of the

(AGI, Guatemala 59, ff. 2-2v).

In spite of the constant statements of the friars over the

The Catholic Indians in the neighborhood of Manche, believe that

through Verapaz and the Castillo [del Golfo].The Indians of Verapaz

The production of cacao and annatto of theManche Choi orchards became in

By 1689,with the assistance of the Indians of Cahabon, theManche Choi popula

tlingwith Indians who live in villages in those mountains, which, accord

pressure of the Itza.

(160 years) were and exploit a commercial

at Havana, Cuba. The anonymous

mala, Andres de Navas yQuevedo, Coban 6 de febrero de 1685.

Acuna, Rene (ed.). 1982. Relacionesgeogrdficas delsigloXVI: Guatemala. Mexico:UNAM.

Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan.

Barrera Vasquez, Alfredo. 1980. Diccionario may a Cordemex. Merida: Cordemex.

Bergmann, John F. 1969. The Distribution of Cacao Cultivation in Pre-Columbian

America, Annals of theAssociation ofAmerican Geographers, 59 (1): 85-96.

Caso Barrera, Laura. 2002. Caminos en la selva. Comercio migrationy resistencia.Mayasyucatecos

Itza Maya Control over Cacao:

Coe, Sophie D. 2004. Lasprimeras cocinas deAmerica. Mexico: FCE.

Cortes, Hernan. 1981. Cartas de relation.Mexico: Porrua.

tions, Food Chemistry, 79 (2): 165-171.

Durand-Forest, 1967. El cacao entre los aztecas, Estudios de Cultura Ndhuatl,

island, Agronomie,\9 (8): 689-703.

Fuentes y Guzman, Francisco. 1932. Recordatidn florida, Vol. 2, Guatemala: Sociedad de

y economia en el Soconusco durante el siglo XVI: el

E. and M. Amador A. 1981. The basis for

Gliessman, Stephen R.1998. Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture. Chel

Gomez-Pompa, A. 1987. On Maya Silviculture, Mexican Studies IEstudios Mexicanos, 3(1):

Gomez-Pompa, A, J. S. Flores, M. Aliphat Fernandez. 1990. The Sacred Cacao Groves

University of New Mexico Press: 163-184.

Hellmuth, 1977. Cholti-Lacandon

production agricola traditional.Montecillos: Colegio de Postgraduados.