ChilliFacts

Chilli in Mexico: where it began, and what the Aztecs did with it

The domesticated chilli most of the world eats, Capsicum annuum, was most likely domesticated in central-east Mexico. Linguists can reconstruct a word for chilli about 6,500 years old, and chilli residue has been found in pots from about 400 BC. The Aztecs took dried chillies as tribute and used chilli smoke to discipline children.

Checked October 20, 2026 · How we source facts

Timeline

  1. c. 9000-7000 years ago (indirect dating)

    Chilli remains in the Tehuacán Valley caves (Puebla). They are dated only by the layers they lay in, not directly. [1]

  2. c. 6,500 years ago

    Proto-Otomanguean, the oldest reconstructed protolanguage in the study, already has a word for chilli pepper. [1]

  3. c. 400 BC - AD 300

    Capsicum residues found in 5 of 13 pottery vessels from Chiapa de Corzo and other Chiapas sites. This is the earliest direct chemical evidence of chilli use in Mesoamerica. [2]

  4. c. 1542

    Aztec scribes paint the Codex Mendoza, likely commissioned by Viceroy Antonio de Mendoza. Its tribute pages list baskets of dry chillies, for example from the Gulf Coast province of Tochpan (folio 52). [5]

  5. c. 1542

    Folio 60r of the Codex Mendoza shows disobedient boys and girls aged 11 held over the smoke of burning chillies. Their tears are painted in blue. [3]

Customs and words

  • Discipline: elders punished 11-year-old boys and girls who ignored their advice by making them breathe smoke from burning chillies (Codex Mendoza, fol. 60r). [3][4]
  • Market trade: the Florentine Codex (Sahagún, Book 10) includes a painting of a chilli seller (chilnamacac) with red, green and yellow chillies laid out on a cloth. [6]
  • Tribute: provinces of the Aztec empire paid tribute that included baskets of dry chillies. [5]
  • Language: the English word 'chilli' comes from Classical Nahuatl chīlli. The name has nothing to do with the country Chile. [7]

Peppers on ChilliFacts

Questions

Where were chillies first domesticated?

Most likely in central-east Mexico, according to a 2014 PNAS study that combined archaeology, ecology, genetics and linguistics.

Did the Aztecs punish children with chilli smoke?

The Codex Mendoza (around 1542) shows disobedient 11-year-old boys and girls held over the smoke of burning chillies, with their tears painted blue.

More chilli history

Sources

  1. PNAS (Kraft et al. 2014, 'Multiple lines of evidence for the origin of domesticated chili pepper', 111(17):6165-6170) via PubMed Central: Central-east Mexico domestication hypothesis; Tehuacán remains roughly dated 9000-7000 BP (indirect); Proto-Otomanguean chilli word ~6500 BP
  2. PLoS ONE (Powis et al. 2013, 'Prehispanic use of chili peppers in Chiapas, Mexico', 8(11): e79013): Capsicum residue in 5 of 13 vessels dated 400 BCE-300 CE
  3. University of Kentucky UKnowledge (Pool & Kidder, 'Codex Mendoza, Folio 60 recto'): Boys and girls of 11 punished with smoke of burning chiles; tears marked in blue (secondary source)
  4. Children and Youth in History, Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media (George Mason Univ.): At age 11 elders punish disobedient children by forcing them to inhale chile smoke (fol. 60r) (secondary source)
  5. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Perspectives: Codex Mendoza made 1542 by Aztec scribes for Viceroy Mendoza; Tochpan tribute (fol. 52) included baskets of dry chili peppers (secondary source)
  6. Visual Lexicon of Aztec Hieroglyphs (Stephanie Wood), citing Digital Florentine Codex, Getty Research Institute: Florentine Codex Book 10 fol. 49r image of a chile seller (chilnamacac) (secondary source)
  7. Wikipedia (citing Online Etymology Dictionary / OED): 'Chilli' derives from Classical Nahuatl chīlli; unrelated to the country Chile (secondary source)