Learn More: Huaca Montegrande

PBS-NOVA Documentary

The global importance of Huaca Montegrande has already been highlighted in a NOVA documentary produced by PBS, a public television network in the United States. This documentary has brought international attention to the site, emphasizing the need to preserve this ancient legacy. The film has allowed global audiences to appreciate the rich and unprecedented history of Montegrande, further underscoring the urgency of ongoing excavation and research efforts.

Sacred Reciprocity for Huaca Montegrande and the Ancient Roots of Cacao

This 6,000-Year-Old Temple With Ancient Cacao Found in Peru’s Amazonian Jungle is at Risk as Sacred Archaeological Site Faces Funding Crisis

Montegrande: Ancient Amazonian Temple Reveals World's First Cacao Cultivation

Archaeology Magazine: Connecting Two Realms

Archaeologists rethink the early civilizations of the Amazon

By: Roger Atwood

Archeologist Quirino Olivero talks about the discovery of cacao at the worlds oldest cacao temple

Dr. Quirino Olivera is the archaeologist who discovered the temple that has rewritten the history of the origin of cocao and the Peruvian Andean civilization. The temple of Monte Grande in northern Peru is the oldest of its kind in the world and the centre of where cacao culture began. Some 7500 years ago the Chinchipe people who built this temple used cacao in ceremony to honor their gods and for spiritual practice. This is believed to be the birthplace of cacao domestication and spiritual practice.

Asuela is a holder of ancestral cacao preparation wisdom and knowledge. She shared with us her cosmovision of cacao and the ceremonial way in which she prepares it. Descended from the Chinchipe tribes of Northern Peru, they have worked with cacao as a spiritual tool for over 7500 years.

Awajun Ceremonial Cacao Preparation - Peru

Saving Peru's Ancient Cacao Temple, Huaca Montegrande, the Time is Now, with Karen Gordon

This may be one of the most important episodes I’ll make. Restoration Ecologist Karen Gordon joins me from Peru to tell us how Mama Cacao needs our support right now!

“We are on the brink of losing a crucial piece of our shared history,” says Dr. Quirino Olivera, head archaeologist. “With the support of the global community, we can ensure that the story of Montegrande continues to be told.”