Mesoamerican Maize

Timeline

1. c. -9000–-3500Valleys of south-central Mexico · MexicoThrough long-term selective breeding, ancient peoples domesticated wild teosinte into maize with edible kernels, gradually enlarging the cob and kernels and laying the material foundation for Mesoamerican agricultural civilization.
2. 1400–1521Tenochtitlan and the Yucatán Peninsula · Aztec EmpireBy the 1460s CE, maize was intercropped with beans and squash on chinampas and terraces, supporting the hundreds of thousands of inhabitants of the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan, and was also central to religious rituals and the tribute system in Maya regions.
3. 1492–1700Old World agricultural regions · AfricaSpanish colonizers brought maize to Europe and Africa, after which it spread to Asia, becoming an important food and fodder crop in tropical and subtropical regions and profoundly reshaping global agricultural structures.