Archaeologists have found evidence that people at Etowah, an Indigenous Mississippian city in present-day northern Georgia, consumed cacao imported from Central America around 1,000 years ago. The discovery suggests that Etowah had long-distance trade links reaching at least 3,000 kilometres, connecting the southeastern United States with the Maya world much earlier than previously confirmed.

Ancient DNA from cacao was identified inside pottery fragments discarded after an 11th-century communal feast, during construction of Etowah’s first major platform mound. Earlier chemical tests had detected compounds also found in local yaupon holly tea, but DNA analysis distinguished cacao; Etowah later became a major ceremonial and trading centre with large earthen mounds, plazas and markets.