Cultivation of Corn

Curated by: Celeste

Map Showing the General Area of Meso-America. Image #1

Meso-America

When you think of all the great inventions and innovations created and thought of in Meso-America, the cultivation of corn doesn't usually come to mind. During this time, landscaping was one big innovation at the time because it became a component to ruler ship positions and boundary creation changed many factors of their time period. Other innovations and inventions from Meso-America at the time include the number system, obsidian tools, calendars, pyramids, and hieroglyphics. Not only was the cultivation of corn so impactful that now corn plays a role in so many different cultures and traditions, but it also provided the Meso-Americans, and later the whole world, with a staple food.

Corn became a staple in Meso-American diets and spread all over the world soon after it became normalized in Meso-American farming. The Meso-Americans used corn for eating because it provided them with sufficiency in carbs and calories. The first step was that they'd plant the corn from March to early may. The best seed corn from the year prior would be taken to be blessed by the goddess Chicomecoatl. Before they harvested the corn, the farmers would have to prepare the fields by breaking up the ground with their digging stick, and they'd also turn the soil a few times throughout the growing season if needed. By August the plants would ripen so they'd bend the stalks below the ears and leave it like that to harden. Another part of this process included sacrificing a woman impersonating the Goddess of Ripe Corn to keep rain away during the harvest time. Finally, in September farmers would plush corn ears and tie them in bundles.

Statue of Mayan Corn God. Image #2

Corn's Impact

The great amount of corn being grown allowed communities to settle in one spot, which helped gradually decrease the level of nomadic people. Living in settled communities allowed the Meso-Americans to build a more complex civilization. Corn is involved in so many different rituals, traditional cuisines, and festivals across the Americas, and now corn based foods are popular all over the globe. In the Mayan religion, humans were believed to be formed by corn. Even to this day, in the United States, the corn belt is considered a symbol of America's agricultural heritage.

Colorful Maize. Image #3

The Journey of Corn

During the late 15th century, when Christopher Columbus traveled to the Americas, is when corn initially got introduced to the rest of the world. After being brought to Europe, corn gradually spread to the rest of the continents and became a significant part of diets worldwide. By the 1500s maize had already reached China. Then Africa by the 1600s and India by the 1700s. It is evident that European colonizers and traders are one of the main resources for the spread of the concept of cultivation of corn and actual corn.

Corn was spread all over the world and became intertwined in many different cultures in a plethora of ways, which shows how impactful it was. Once corn was introduced it spread all over the world because of its sufficiency in carbohydrates and calories. The cultivation of corn was one of the results of the uprisings in agriculture. Maize is now involved in many different cultures and religions. Undoubtedly, corn was just such a significant crop.

Related Websites

https://news.unm.edu - This is the University of New Mexico's news website and it provides various different research articles about maize.
https://www.usdasouthernafrica.org - The USD Southern Africa includes many information about corn and other agriculture or produce.
https://evolution.earthathome.org - Not only does this website have articles that give insight on corn, but it also has a plethora of articles about earth science in general.

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