Once upon a time, perhaps as early as 50,000 years ago, the first bands of hunters, perhaps following great game herds, crossed from Siberia to the American continent. For thousands of years they drifted southward, many of them eventually settling in the lush highland valleys of Mexico.
Much later, perhaps around 5000 B.C., and in what would later be called Mexico, these early people began gathering and grinding the seeds of a hardy grass that required only the summer rains to thrive. After generations of selective breeding, this grain, called teocentli (sacred seed, which we call maize or corn), led to prosperity.