(Credit: vainillaychile/iStock via Getty Images Plus) The ancestor of maize was a grass called teosinte.

Since it is one of my go-to snacks, I frequently wonder about this, and appreciate the sleuthing by Sean Rafferty at SUNY Albany, and Discover magazine for publishing it:

How Was Popcorn Discovered?

Could a spill by the cook fire have been popcorn’s eureka moment?

You have to wonder how people originally figured out how to eat some foods that are beloved today. The cassava plant is toxic if not carefully processed through multiple steps. Yogurt is basically old milk that’s been around for a while and contaminated with bacteria. And who discovered that popcorn could be a toasty, tasty treat?

(Credit: Yeti studio/Shutterstock)

These kinds of food mysteries are pretty hard to solve. Archaeology depends on solid remains to figure out what happened in the past, especially for people who didn’t use any sort of writing. Unfortunately, most stuff people traditionally used made from wood, animal materials or cloth decays pretty quickly, and archaeologists like me never find it.

We have lots of evidence of hard stuff, such as pottery and stone tools, but softer things – such as leftovers from a meal – are much harder to find. Sometimes we get lucky, if softer stuff is found in very dry places that preserve it. Also, if stuff gets burned, it can last a very long time. Continue reading →