“Wheat of Portugal” . The African adventure of maize

Abstract

This work focuses on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and starts from the introduction of maize (Zea mays) in different places of Africa by the Portuguese. Likewise, it tries to open the way in the jungle of uncertain names and interpretations offered by various descriptions of the period under study, and it poses the need for cultural-historical readings of the phenomenon by comparing different descriptive traditions, with special reference in this case to Ethiopia.

Keywords

• history of maize
• zea mays
• history of culture
• africa
• america
• 16th century
• 17th century