The Mind Creative MARCH 2015 | Page 37

BEEF Archaeologists in China stumbled upon a beautiful bronze pot in a 2000 year old tomb in the village of Wanli. It took them a while to realize that the black and green carbonised material in the pot was beef. In fact it was a form of beef jerky since it had not shrunk and this indicated that it had been dried before being stored. CHOCOLATE Scientists have discovered the oldest chocolate which is at least 3,100 years ago in Central America. Researchers believe that during those times, chocolate was used not as a sweet treat but as a beer-like beverage during celebrations and for status symbol, and have identified residue of a chemical compound that comes exclusively from the cacao plant - the source of chocolate - in pottery vessels dating from about 1100 BC in Puerto Escondido, Honduras. 37