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Corn was domesticated more than 9,000 years ago in the New World, most likely in Mexico. Some researchers have suggested popcorn was made even before corn was domesticated, as wild varieties of corn can also be used to create popcorn. Pollen evidence of corn in Mexico suggest that popcorn could go back to more than 15,000 years ago. At about 5500 -5600 years ago, evidence from Mexico also suggests becomes more evident that popcorn may have been made, where burn burnt remains have been found. As corn spread in its use throughout the New World prior to the arrival of Columbus, many cultures that adopted corn began to also make popcorn. This was often, though not always, done mostly by taking a long stick, attaching the corn, and then letting the ear of corn pop its kernels over an open fire. The popcorn would then be captured, but the process may have been somewhat inefficient as likely kernels would be lost. Another way included using clay pots where the corn was placed and then the kernels popped inside the jar. In some exceptional preservation environments, intact popcorn older than 1,000 years has been found in Utah and Peru, where both regions are dry and can preserve archaeological remains.<ref>For more on the earliest finds of popcorn, see: Elton, B. (2003). <i>Popcorn.</i> London: Black Swan.</ref>

In addition to being important for food consumption, evidence exists popcorn was made for ritual reasons. A 1,700-year-old painted funeral urn found in Mexico depicts a corn god shown wearing a headdress made of popcorn. Popcorn was so widely used by native cultures in Mexico and other parts of the New World that Europeans first encountered it in their initial encounters with indigenous peoplepeoples in the West Indies and in Mexico. Both Cortes and Columbus encountered popcorn in their early encounters with native populations, where people ate and wore popcorn as part of headdresses, similar to how the corn god and other gods were at times shown (Figure 1). One story exists that popcorn was served in the first Thanksgiving, where early colonists learned about popcorn with the natives they shared a meal with. Popcorn was not only consumed by itself but it was often used in a type of soup and even made into a type of beer.<ref>For more on the variety of uses for popcorn in its early history, see: Podojil, J. (2013). <i>Popcorn favorites: everything you want to know about popcorn and more.</i> Bloomington, IN: Trafford On Demand Pub., pg. 16.</ref>

Early American settlers utilized popcorn after learning about it from native populations. However; however, rather than a nighttime snack, it was often consumed as part of breakfast, where it would be added with milk or creamas a cereal. By the 18th and early 19th centuries, English speakers began referring to popcorn as "popped corn," where the term eventually shortened to popcorn.<ref>For more on the early history of popcorn consumption by European settlers and Americans, see: Smith, A. F. (Ed.). (2013). <i>Food and drink in American history: a “full course” encyclopedia.</i> Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO.</ref>