The answer is, No, not at first.

Grinding stones are one of the most common remaining archaeological appliances found at Southwestern indigenous sites. The idea to cultivate corn to grind traveled up from Mexico, but where did corn come from?

The indigenous people of the Mexico region began by eating a wild grass called Teosinte, which grew to about one inch long and yielded about 50 edible kernels which were ground into meal for consumption.

Teosinte is the small one on top. Photo by John Doebley

Around the year 5,000 B.C. they experimented with domesticating this plant and over time created the genetically modified large ear corn that we are more familiar with.

The skulls of indigenous people show short teeth that were severely damaged from a lifetime of chewing ground stone with their meal, the result of stoneground corn, seeds, and other foods.

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