User talk:MaryRose92/Maya use of Cacao

I made some comments about correct bibliographic citation form in an email to you. Please make sure that all of your references are complete (this includes giving specific page numbers, especially in a large work such as The Ancient Maya.) I'm disappointed that you did not make use of a reference that I recommended early in your research: America's First Cuisines by Sophie Coe. (We have a copy of it at Watson Library.) In general, you do not want to repeat a lot of the information that is found in other entries that already exist. (This is the main reason for hyperlinks to other articles.) However, you want to be sure that you are including hyperlinks to all relevant material. I've done a little bit of editing, including adding some links (such as one for Spanish Conquest. Note that Mixe-Zoquean languages are NOT the same as Mayan languages but a different language family. As a rule, you do not need to provide hyperlinks beyond the first mention of something. For example, the initial citation of Theobroma cacao can be hyperlinked, but it is not necessary to hyperlink subsequent uses. Your subheadings should be clear and succinct and easy to interpret. For example, I would change "The Meaning of the Bean" to something (albeit drier) such as "Religious Significance." You do not need spaces between the period at the end of a sentence and a footnote reference. Please be sure to carefully proofread your entry! Good luck! Hoopes (talk) 22:42, 5 March 2014 (UTC)

Please note that some of your references are incomplete. When citing specific information, especially from such a large work as The Ancient Maya by Sharer & Traxler, you must provide a specific page number that refers to the information you are citing. When citing journal articles such as Nature and Science News, you must provide not only the page numbers of the article but also the volume and issue numbers. In general, you need to note that each assertion of fact, opinion, or "debate" must be accompanied by citations to appropriate sources. For example, your mention of the use of a cacao beverage in marriages must be documented. From where does the term "drink of the gods" come? (That should be cited.) When you note that "the drink is believed to have contained maize," that opinion requires a citation. When you say "there is some debate" about the sweetening of cacao, that must have a reference as well.

Your first mention of a "chocolate pot" does not describe this vessel or say where it was from. Note that the date of "between 600 B.C. to A.D. 250" is a huge time span. Surely the vessel was dated to a more specific time than this.

Your remarks about cacao use in Europe should not be in the section on the history of Maya use of cacao. Do you have a citation for the statement that cacao use was met with skepticism in Europe? Do you have a reference for your assertion that the first use of chocolate in Europe was as a beverage similar to hot chocolate?

You refer to a "cacao deity" but do not provide a citation. Whenever you state, "there is also evidence to suggest...", a citation must be provided. Your mention of "the Merchant Deity" should also be supported. Which merchant deity? (Clarification is essential.) (You should review the entry for Ek Chuaj to see if this is the deity you mean.)

Please use hyperlinks to articles on items that may not be familiar to the average reader. Hyperlinks should be used the first time that the word or term is used. Hyperlinking after that is excessive.

The appearance of a "chocolate pot" is not familiar to the average reader. Please provide a description and reference. Note that the spouted cacao vessels of highland Guatemala are very different from the cylindrical drinking "vases" that have the elaborate painted scenes on them. Hoopes (talk) 19:44, 11 March 2014 (UTC)