Beans from the cacao tree were used as currency.						Physical Religious Artistic Economic Social
	ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT n active trade network in Central America linked the region with Mesoamerican and Andean civilizations. From as early as Olmec times, the region was an important source of jade. Seafaring merchants carried raw and finished goods back and forth. Chocolate beans were a popular form of currency. During the post-Classic era, cast gold jewelry and jade objects were exported from Lower Central America north to Aztec cities while Aztec merchants continued to extend their trade farther and farther south.