Aztec Inventions – Chewing Gum
Chances are, at some point in your life, you’ve chewed gum. But, did you know that the Aztecs and Mayans were among the first to use it?
When the conquistadores invaded in 1518, they ran across Aztec prostitutes chewing gum on the corners.
The actual discovery of chewing gum came a few hundred years earlier, however, by the Mayans. They found that chicle, a thick milky liquid that oozes out of cuts made in the wild sapodilla tree and then hardens into gum, was extremely tasty when chewed. As with many other popular pastimes, the importance of chicle to the Maya is clearly from their mythology: The culture hero Kukulkan (”the Feathered Serpent”), who conquered the Maya and changed their way of life to such an extent that he became worshiped as a god, was a great chewer of gum.
No related posts.