Human Origins Today – From Ancient Teosinte to Modern Corn: The Domestication of Plants and People

Modern corn is a food staple, animal feed, biofuel, industrial sweetener, alcohol base, and even a source for bio-plastics. But what do we really know about how corn came to be so ubiquitous in ancient and modern societies? Heather Thakar is an archaeobotanist at Texas A&M University and an expert in the early domestication history of tropical plants in the Americas. In this video, she discusses active research coming from the El Gigante Rockshelter in Honduras, a site of incredible ancient plant preservation that is challenging what we know about maize domestication. This Zoom webinar aired September 21, 2023, as part of the HOT (Human Origins Today) Topic series. Learn more about the HOT Topic series and get info about upcoming webinars on the museum's Events for Adults page: naturalhistory.si.edu/events/after-hours-programs-… Visit the Human Origins Website from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History: humanorigins.si.edu/