Maize Deity

Head of Xilonen, the Goddess of Young Maize

Cup with Profile Head of the Maize God

Life-Death Figure

Ceremonial Metate

Ceremonial Grinding Table (Metate) in the Form of a Feline

Vessel, Hand with Kero

Young Corn Deity

Mask

Celt with Incised Profile

Seated Male Carrying Maize

Created by Reina Gattuso. 
Ancient Mesoamerican people were the first to domesticate maize.1 Maize cultivation spread throughout North and South America. Many peoples of Mesoamerica, such as the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec, worshiped powerful maize gods and spirits. These deities maintained the agricultural cycles of germination, maturity, death, and rebirth.2 The objects in this collection either depict maize deities or are spiritually associated with corn. 

Maize gods embodied diverse aspects of corn. The Aztec had several maize deities representing different stages in corn’s life cycle. These include Xilonen, the beautiful goddess of young maize, and Chicomecoatl, the god of mature, ripened maize. An artist carved an image of the Olmec corn god on a 10th-century jade ax, which itself represented a new shoot of corn. A Mayan sculpture from the 8th century depicts the maize god living inside an ear of maize. 

Corn-related ceremonies continue to mark yearly cycles of fertility for many people of this region.3 However, in the modern era, maize has become a commodified crop. Corporations increasingly claim new maize varieties as intellectual property. They deny Indigenous people sovereignty over their traditional food source.4 In contrast, images of Mesoamerican maize gods remind modern readers of the profound spiritual connection between people and the crops they cultivated—and which shaped them through centuries of sustenance. 


 
CITATIONS 


1 “New Research Reveals the Earliest Evidence for Corn in the New World.” Smithsonian, 23 March 2009, www.si.edu/newsdesk/releases/new-research-reveals-earliest-evidence-corn-new-world. Accessed 18 March 2022. 

2 “Maize God.” Dallas Museum of Art, collections.dma.org/essay/elO012om. Accessed 18 March 2022. 

3 “Corn and Calendar Traditions.” Living Maya Time, https://maya.nmai.si.edu/corn-and-maya-time/corn-and-calendar-traditions. Accessed 22 October 2022. 

4 Pskowski, Martha. Yale Environment 360, 16 July 2019, e360.yale.edu/features/indigenous-maize-who-owns-the-rights-to-mexicos-wonder-plant. Accessed 18 March 2022.

Maize Gods and Fertility Spirits

Maize Gods and Fertility Spirits

About this Collection

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