The History of Maize Domestication

Maize is a crucial staple crop, remaining the most important food crop in the world

with over 150 varieties used for different purposes. Have you ever wondered about its origin

How did people first discover maize, or how was it domesticated? The history of maize, or corn domestication, has been a topic of debate within archaeology

Welcome to AnthroMedia. In this video, we will trace the history of corn domestication

Before we proceed, don't forget to subscribe. The ancestor of corn, called Zea amexicana, originated in Mesoamerica as Teosinte

The transformation from wild Teosinte to primitive corn likely occurred between 13,000 and 6,000

BC due to a mutation in the Teosinte gene. This mutation made the fruit cases softer, leading to the development of domesticated maize

The differences between Teosinte and maize include long branches with tassels in Teosinte

and short branches with ears in maize. The gene TB1 controls this distinction, and changes in its regulatory regions played a

role in the transition. A commonly accepted hypothetical scenario for maize domestication suggests it might

have started unintentionally during the gathering of wild Teosinte. Selective pressure for harvestable types of Teosinte with shrunken spikes or bunches may

have led to their establishment near campsites. Humans, over time, would have started deliberately planting the more useful types and removing

weeds, gradually domesticating corn. The crucial stage in domestication was when people began selectively harvesting and planting

transitional forms of Teosinte, changing its reproductive strategy to depend on human intervention

The transformation of Teosinte into corn is believed to have taken many centuries and

likely occurred in southwestern Mexico, specifically in the deciduous forests of the Balsas Valley region

The domestication process involved selecting seeds with preferred traits and rejecting less desirable ones

Some researchers think maize might have originally come from tropical lowlands where there weren't

many wild plant foods. Early on, maize would have been a better source of calories than the plants in the wild forests

Human populations settled around numerous lakes in the central Balsas Valley after the

Ice Age during warmer and humid conditions. By about 6000 BC people were cultivating maize and squash in this region

By 5600 BC maize had spread into southern Central America and by 5000 to 4000 BC it

was found in Columbian valleys further south. The Gila Nequitz Cave in Auxaca provided a date of 4250 BC for maize, and there is

indirect evidence of even earlier maize cultivation before 5000 BC. In southern Mexico, the Tehuacan Valley is like a history book about how people first

started growing corn in dry environments. Initially people in this region relied on hunting and collecting wild foods, but as

the game population declined around 8000 BC, they shifted to a more intensive gathering

of wild plant foods. By at least 4500 BC the majority of the diet consisted of tropical grasses, cacti and maguey

This shift likely prompted some form of cultivation or domestication of native plants, marking

a crucial step in the development of maize agriculture. After 2500 BC there was an increase in crop yields in Mesoamerica

People started growing foods like beans, amaranth, gourds and maize that could be stored to endure

lean months. They lived in larger, more permanent settlements and used well-made grindstones to process

their smaller maize, which resembled tersinte. These sedentary villages replaced earlier nomadic patterns

The communities had ample storage, enabling them to survive through periods of scarcity

Similar cultural developments were observed in dry caves across northern Mesoamerica, highland lakes in the Valley of Mexico, and elsewhere likely supported settled communities

experimenting with crops like amaranth. In the Tehuacan Valley they found a tonne of old corn pieces

More than 24,000, these pieces show how corn changed over time. The earliest ones were really small and couldn't spread their seeds naturally, indicating domestication

around 2200 to 2600 BC. By 2000 BC people all over were starting to rely at least a bit on growing their own food

A thousand years later in the Mexican lowlands we see the first signs of organised societies

The Colombian exchange refers to the exchange of disease, food, ideas and people between

the Americas and Europe, Africa, and Asia in the 15th and 16th centuries

Maize along with other vital crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes and cassava was introduced

to Europe during this period. Maize was already cultivated in the Americas from Canada to Chile, but its widespread introduction

to the old world occurred after Columbus' voyages. Maize became a significant crop in Europe, including the UK, where its cultivation has

increased significantly since the 1970s, serving various purposes such as livestock feed, game

cover and energy crops for anaerobic digesters