Hotel Maya continues its series of complimentary Mayan lectures in its conference room on Saturday, May 19 from 2:00pm to 3:00pm with Dr. Khristaan D. Villela, Research Professor at University of New Mexico and Professor of Art History at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Dr. Villela specializes in the art of Precolumbian Mesoamerica and the history of the field of Precolumbian studies.
Dr. Villela will explore “Chocolate: The Ancient Maya Drink of the Gods” by looking at the history of chocolate in ancient Maya culture and religion as it is depicted in the visual arts, discussed in Maya hieroglyphic texts, and found in archaeological contexts. Chocolate’s scientific name, Theobroma cacao, meaning “drink of the gods,” closely matches how the Maya and other peoples of ancient Mesoamerica thought of this sacred foodstuff.
Today chocolate is one of the world’s most valuable commodities, according to Dr. Villela, it is consumed as a beverage, as a candy, and it is an important ingredient in many recipes, from cakes and cookies to Mexican Mole sauces. More than two thousand years ago, long before the modern-day empires of Hershey and Cadbury, the ancient Maya of Mexico and Central America grew, traded, and consumed great quantities of “kakaw,” as they called chocolate, usually as a beverage mixed with honey and chile peppers. In the “Popol Vuh,” a collection of ancient Maya creation myths, the lightning god K’awiil split a primordial mountain revealing maize and chocolate, two of the most important foods of the Maya and other native peoples of Mesoamerica.
“The Maya nobility prepared and drank chocolate using special spouted and cylindrical ceramic vessels, many of which have survived to the present day with chocolate residues still inside,” concludes Dr. Villela.
Following Dr. Villela’s presentation, guests will have the opportunity to sample and purchase an unusual variety of Mexican chocolate from the Museum’s store.
Hotel Maya kicked-off its Mayan lecture series on March 31 with Dr. Gerardo Aldana, Associate Professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Aldana offered a hands-on “Mayan Calendar” workshop and “Observatories and Green Stones: Exploring the Origins of the Maya Calendar” presentation.
Hotel Maya launched its free Mayan lecture series in March with Dr. Gerardo Aldana, Associate Professor at University of California, Santa Barbara. Dr. Aldana held a Maya Calendar Workshop and Observatories and “Green Stones: Exploring the Origins of the Maya Calendar” presentation. The Museum of Latin American Art is the co-sponsor of the Mayan lecture series.