All Hail the Sacred Lima Bean! (ca. 6000 BC – 800 AD)
Though generally not considered a favorite food of children, it turns out that lima beans were once touted as a sacred, elite-only delicacy among the Moche civilization of northern Peru. Known for their lively painted and sculpted pottery vessels, many of the images they created were records of daily life – including important symbols and their favorite foods. Among these paintings are recognizable images of lima beans… and some are depicted in a rather interesting way.
At the Larco Museum in Lima, there is an extensive collection of Moche pottery that have lima bean designs, where some of the lima beans are actually anthropomorphic: the little beans have been given expressive faces, legs, feet, and in some cases appear to be representations of messengers or warriors. On some pots, there are symmetrical rows of lima beans that cover the entire surface of a pot, with distinctive speckles to show their specific genus.
Research into these pots, as well as the dieting habits of the ancient Moche people, give all indications that these lima beans were consumed primarily by the ruling elite, which would have placed them in a position of importance and prominence – and likely ensured their role in any number of religious rituals as well. Since cultures like the Moche tended to allow only the ruling elite as members of the community priesthood, there is a fair amount of certainty concerning lima beans’ ritual significance.
Other studies have focused on the lima bean’s role as a type of proto-script, meaning that many of the images of beans on Moche pottery actually held ideographic connotations – they were pictures that held distinctive ideas in their depiction. Thus, not only were lima beans consumed by the elite, but they also held symbolic meaning in their usage.
Lima beans have had a long history in South America, with remains of beans dating to around 6000 BC. While there are several different types of lima beans that grow across Central and South America, the Moche people would have consumed the denser variety of bean that is familiar in most grocery stores today.
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