Reviews
Written by some of the world's most renowned experts in the field of archaeology, history, anthropology, epigraphy, botany, and linguistics, with the majority of the work centered on Maya studies, this book contains a watershed of interesting and exciting information. …an invaluable source of up-to-date information on one of the most beloved and revered foodstuff in the Americas.
--The Austin Chronicle
…a unique, extremely useful collection on chocolate use in Mesoamerica that sets a standard to follow in the expanding field of cultural food studies.
--CHOICE
…fascinating reading for layman and academic alike.
--Journal of Economic Botany
" These authors show how we can move beyond passive observation to proactive advocacy as well. Food aficionados and cultural antrhopologists alike will be interested in the descriptions of modern cacao use by McNeil and Johanna Kufer & Michael Heinrich."
--Cambridge Archaeological Journal
" This book is a triumph of four-field anthropology. Should stand as proof that four-field anthropology not only lives but still has enormous value. A model of enthnobiology and Mesoamerican studies. It deserves to be read by all specialists in those areas."
--American Anthropologist
" This important edited volume covers pre-Columbian to modern cacao use from the central Mexican Highlands though to Nicaragua, with genetic and ethnohistoric coverage extending into South America. Sure to be a benchmark reference for Mesoamerica's most important non-subsistence crop."
--Bulletin of Latin American Reserch
"This volume's integrative elegance makes it required reading for anyone interested in any aspect of Mesoamerica, and a must for every scholar's library and every college and university collection."
--Journal of Latin American & Caribbean Anthropology
"This volume has no competitor."
--Enterprise and Society