Mokaya
Mokaya were pre-Olmec cultures of the Soconusco region in Mexico and parts of the Pacific coast of western Guatemala, an archaeological culture that developed a number of Mesoamerica’s earliest-known sedentary settlements.
The Soconusco region is generally divided by archaeologists into three adjacent zones along the coast—the Lower Río Naranjo region (along the Pacific coast of western Guatemala), Acapetahua, and Mazatán (both on the Pacific coast of modern-day Chiapas, Mexico). These three zones are about 50 km apart along the coast, but they are connected by a natural inland waterway, which could have permitted easy communication in prehistoric times.
The term Mokaya was coined by archaeologists to mean "corn people" in an early form of the Mixe–Zoquean language, which the Mokaya supposedly spoke.
The Mokaya are thought to be the first to domesticate cacao the precursor to chocolate. Around 1900 BC, they domesticated one of the dozen species of cacao and brought it from the upper Amazon. A Mokaya archaeological site provides evidence of cacao beverages dating to this time.
The Barra phase of the Mokaya culture is dated 1550-1400 BC. The early sites belonging to this phase are Altamira, San Carlos, and Paso de la Amada. This phase is already distinguished by its sophisticated pottery.
Then came the Locona phase 1400-1250 BC, with many more sites.
The Mokaya are thought to have been among the first cultures in Mesoamerica to develop a hierarchical society, which arose in the Early Formative (or Preclassic) period of Mesoamerican chronology, at a time (late 2nd millennium BCE) slightly before similar traits were evident among the early Olmec centers of the Gulf Coast region.
The following occupational phases have been proposed for Mokaya archaeology.
The Barra ceramic phase, which marks the beginning of the Early Formative period, spans 1850 to 1650 cal. BC and is known to be the initial occupation phase of the Mokaya. It is also when the first known pottery was developed in Mesoamerica.
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