An archaeological discovery has revealed chocolate may have been a treat in the US for almost 1000 years.

According to the Smithsonian Magazine, a new genetic analysis of residues left behind on pieces of pottery neat the Etowah Indian Mounds has revealed the earliest known traces of cacao east of the Mississippi River. The discovery has expanded archaeologists’ understanding of the spread of goods and ideas in the ancient Americas.

University of South Carolina archaeologist Adam King said the Indigenous world of the Southeast was an international world, where people were very connected.

Cacao originated in Mesoamerica, with some of the earliest evidence for the plant’s domestication dates to about 5300 years ago in Ecuador. By 1500BCE fermented chocolate drinks were being made by the Olmecs of southern Mexico and, by 1050BCE chocolate was widespread in the region.

However, only limited evidence from the time had identified chocolate in North America.

The new evidence, which was published in PLOS One, has revealed the magic beans had reached Etowah by around the 11th century.

Etowah is the site of six  earthen monuments created by Native Americans during the pre-Colombian Mississippian period. They were built with red clay between 1000 and 1550CE.

Mr King said the building of the structures were ritualised.

“They are actually re-enacting the creation of the Earth,” he said.

Remnants of feasts were found in the surrounding vicinity, which included pottery fragments and animal bones, in the 1950s. Some of the pottery retained some traces of what the vessels once contained.

About a decade ago Mr King and his colleague, Terry Powis – an archaeologists who’d been studying cacao use in Mesoamerica – wanted to see if the shards held any chocolate remains. After receiving permission from the Muscogee people, the duo began to analyse the residue from the bits of pottery. They found four organic compounds found in cacao, including caffeine, which was present in all 31 sherds they tested.

Further analysis done in conjunction with French researchers found traces of cacao in two of the pot sherds.

Although it’s uncertain how the cacao came to Etowah, it’s possible a trader or traveller could have brought it there directly or it could have been traded person to person until it arrived along with the recipe for chocolate.