Pygmy is a resident of the equatorial forests of Africa. Pygmies: the smallest people in the world Message about the peoples of Africa pygmies
The first mention of pygmies was made in ancient Egyptian records dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. Later, ancient Greek historians wrote about the pygmies Herodotus, Strabo, Homer. The real existence of these African tribes was confirmed only in the 19th century by a German traveler. Georg Schweinfurt, Russian researcher Vasily Junker and others.
The growth of adult male pygmies is from 144-150 cm in height. Women - about 120 cm. They have short limbs, light brown skin, which serves as excellent camouflage in the forest. Hair dark, curly, lips thin.
Occupation
Pygmies live in the forests. The forest for them is the highest deity - the source of everything necessary for survival. The traditional occupation for most pygmies is hunting and gathering. They hunt elephants, antelopes and monkeys. They use shortbows and poisoned arrows for hunting. In addition to various meats, pygmies are very fond of wild bee honey. In order to get to their favorite treat, they have to climb 45-meter trees, after which they use ash and smoke to disperse the bees. Women collect nuts, berries, mushrooms and roots.
Pygmies live in small groups of at least 50 members. Each group has a special area for building huts. Marriages between members of different tribes are quite common here. Also, absolutely any member of the tribe, when he wishes, is free to leave and join another tribe. There are no formal leaders in the tribe. Issues and problems that have arisen are resolved through open negotiations.
Weapon
Weapons are a spear, a small bow, arrows (often poisoned). Pygmies barter iron for arrowheads from neighboring tribes. Various traps and traps are widely used.
Pygmies are the most famous dwarf tribes living in the forests of tropical Africa. The main areas of concentration of pygmies today: Zaire (165 thousand people), Rwanda (65 thousand people), Burundi (50 thousand people), Congo (30 thousand people), Cameroon (20 thousand people) and Gabon (5 thousand people).
Mbutis- a tribe of pygmies living in the Ituri forest in Zaire. Most scientists believe that they were most likely the first inhabitants of this region.
Twa (batwa)- a tribe of pygmies in equatorial Africa. They live both in the mountains and on the plains near Lake Kivu in Zaire, Burundi and Rwanda. They maintain close ties with neighboring pastoral tribes and know how to make pottery.
Tswa (batswa)- This large tribe lives near the swamp south of the Congo River. They, like the Twa tribe, live in cooperation with neighboring tribes, adopting their culture and language. Most of the Tswa hunt or fish.
To begin with, let's get acquainted with the facts and reports of scientists about the pygmy tribes. There is not so much information about mysterious undersized people as we would like, so all of them are important. Where and how they live, who they are: "mistake" or "regularity" of Nature; perhaps, having understood their “features”, we will be able to better consider ourselves? After all, we are all children of the same planet, their problems cannot be alien to us.
“The first ancient evidence of the pygmies was left by a Greek historian of the 5th century. to x. e. Herodotus. While he was traveling in Egypt, he was told a story about how one day young men from the African tribe of Nasamones decided to “make a journey through Libyan desert in order to penetrate further and see more than all those who had previously visited the most remote parts of it, "..." the Nasamones returned safely and that all the people [pygmies] they came to were wizards.
“Another testimony about the pygmies was left to us by the largest Roman scientist Pliny the Elder (24-79 AD). In his Natural History, he writes: “Some report a tribe of pygmies living among the marshes, from originates the Nile"".(one*)
"One of the civilizations inhabited by pygmies and which now gone into oblivion located on Hawaiian Islands. "...". Today, Pygmy tribes live in Africa (Central equatorial zone) and Southeast Asia (Andaman Islands, Philippines, and the tropical forests of Malacca).
Hunter-gatherers in Africa are represented by three main groups - the Pygmies of Central Africa, the Bushmen of South Africa, and the Hadza of East Africa. Neither the Pygmies nor the Bushmen are a single monolith in stages - each of these groups consists of tribes or other ethnic communities located at different levels of socio-historical and cultural development.
Name pygmies comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally - the size of a fist). The main countries of settlement: Zaire - 165 thousand people, Rwanda - 65 thousand people, Burundi - 50 thousand people, Congo - 30 thousand people, Cameroon - 20 thousand people, Central African Republic - 10 thousand people. people, Angola - 5 thousand people, Gabon - 5 thousand people. They speak Bantu languages.
Pygmies were one of the races that came out of Africa and settled in southern Asia, where they were very common in antiquity. The modern population of pygmies lives not only in Africa but also in some areas of South Asia, such as Aeta and Batak in the Philippines, Semang in Malaysia, Mani in Thailand. The average height of an adult male is about 140 cm. Women are about 120 cm. Increasingly tall pygmies are the result of interracial mixing with neighboring tribes.
"Pygmies. Have proportional healthy body, only reduced in size. Anatomy and physiology are close to normal".
“Among the pygmies, there are few sexy (Amazons) - and easily excitable (Bushmen, who have a constant erection), there are very infantile - and very masculine (bearded, muscular, with large facial features, chest, unlike Negroids, hairy). African pygmies are very musical and plastic. They hunt elephants. Nilotic giants live next to them, the tallest people on Earth. They say that the Nilotic people willingly take pygmy women as wives, but they are afraid of men.
It was previously thought that the low growth of the pygmies was due to the poor quality of food and some kind of special diet, but this version has not been confirmed. There are other races living nearby - the Masai and Sumburu in Kenya, who do not eat much better, but are considered the highest in the world. At one time, for the purpose of experimentation, a group of pygmies were fed fully and for a long time, but their growth and the growth of their offspring did not increase.
pygmies Central Africa can be divided into three geographically distinct groups: 1) the Ituri Basin Pygmies, known as Bambuti, Wambuti or Mbuti, and linguistically divided into three subgroups: Efe, Basua, or Sua, and aka (more on that in this article); 2) the Pygmies of the Great Lakes region - the Twa, inhabiting Rwanda and Burundi, and scattered groups surrounding them; 3) pygmies of the western regions of the rainforest - baguielli, obongo, akoa, bachva, bayele, etc. In addition, there is also a group of East African pygmies - boni.
Now the pygmies are in hard times, they are dying out due to diseases like measles and smallpox, which, in combination with nutrient-poor food and heavy loads, lead to high mortality. In some tribes, the average life expectancy is only 20 years. Higher and stronger Negro tribes oppress the Pygmies and survive them on unsuitable areas for existence.
Some scientists are also trying to connect the short life span of the pygmies with their height (compare the life span of an elephant and a mouse). In general, all researchers of this people agree that the study of pygmies helps to better understand the principles of evolution and human adaptability to different environmental conditions.
The great demand for bushmeat causes pygmies to poach in nature reserves. The unreasonable extermination of endangered animals may soon become a threat to the existence of the pygmy tribes themselves - a vicious circle from which it is already impossible to get out.
Pygmies go to poach in the reserve, their weapons are trapping nets and spears.
Here is the prey, catching an antelope is a great success.
“Pygmies are a nomadic people. Several times a year they leave their homes and, together with all the simple belongings, go through hidden paths to the most remote forest corners.
"... Pygmies live in huts that look like small green tubercles."
“Pygmies maintain fire constantly. When moving to another parking lot, they carry burning brands with them, since it is very long and difficult to carve a fire with flint.
“There is no real clay capable of holding the buildings together, and the rains destroy the pygmy” buildings. Therefore, they often have to be repaired. Behind this occupation you can always see only women. Girls who have not yet acquired a family and their own home, according to local customs They are not allowed to do this job."
Pygmies (Greek Πυγμαῖοι - "people the size of a fist") - a group of undersized Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa.
Testimonies and references
Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., at a later time - in ancient Greek sources (in the "Iliad" of Homer, in Herodotus and Strabo).
In the XVI-XVII centuries. they are called "matimba" are mentioned in the descriptions left by the explorers of West Africa.
In the 19th century, their existence was confirmed by the German explorer Georg August Schweinfurt, the Russian explorer V.V. Junker and others, who discovered these tribes in the tropical forests of the Ituri and Uzle river basins (various tribes under the names: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batva) .
In 1929-1930. P. Shebesta's expedition described the Bambuti Pygmies; in 1934–1935 the researcher M. Guzinde found the Efe and Basua Pygmies.
At the end of the 20th century, they live in the forests of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, and Rwanda.
The most ancient mention of the pygmies is contained in the story of the Egyptian Hirkhuf, a nobleman of the era of the Old Kingdom, who boasted that he managed to bring a dwarf from his campaign for the amusement of the young king. This inscription dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. In an Egyptian inscription, the dwarf brought by Hirkhuf is called dng. This name has survived to this day in the languages of the peoples of Ethiopia: in Amharic, a dwarf is called deng, or dat. Ancient Greek writers tell all sorts of stories about African pygmies, but all their reports are fantastic.
Pygmies lead a hunting lifestyle. In the economy of the Pygmies, gathering, apparently, occupies the first place and mainly determines the nutrition of the entire group. Most of the work falls to the share of women, since the extraction of plant food is the business of women. Every day, the women of the entire cohabiting group, accompanied by children, collect wild-growing roots, leaves of edible plants and fruits around their camp, catch worms, snails, frogs, snakes and fish.
Pygmies are forced to leave the camp as soon as all suitable plants are eaten in the vicinity of the camp and the game is destroyed. The whole group moves to another area of the forest, but wanders within the established boundaries. These boundaries are known to all and are strictly observed. Hunting on foreign lands is not allowed and may lead to hostile clashes. Almost all groups of pygmies live in close contact with a tall population, most often with the Bantu. Typically, the pygmies bring game and forest products to the villages in exchange for bananas, vegetables, and iron spearheads. All groups of pygmies speak the languages of their tall neighbors.
House of pygmies made of leaves and sticks
The primitive nature of the culture of the pygmies sharply distinguishes them from the surrounding peoples of the Negroid race. What are pygmies? Is it an autochthonous population of Central Africa? Do they constitute a special anthropological type, or is their origin the result of degradation of the tall type? These are the main questions that made up the essence of the pygmy problem, one of the most controversial in anthropology and ethnography. Soviet anthropologists believe that the Pygmies are natives of tropical Africa of a special anthropological type, of independent origin.
Height from 144 to 150 cm for adult males, skin is light brown, hair is curly, dark, lips are relatively thin, large torso, arms and legs are short, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 280 thousand people.
In external type, the negritos of Asia are close to them, but genetically there are strong differences between them.
Pygmies (Greek Πυγμαῖοι - "people the size of a fist") - a group of undersized Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa.
Testimonies and references
Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., at a later time - in ancient Greek sources (in the "Iliad" of Homer, in Herodotus and Strabo).
In the XVI-XVII centuries. they are called "matimba" are mentioned in the descriptions left by the explorers of West Africa.
In the 19th century, their existence was confirmed by the German explorer Georg August Schweinfurt, the Russian explorer V.V. Junker and others, who discovered these tribes in the tropical forests of the Ituri and Uzle river basins (various tribes under the names: Akka, Tikitiki, Obongo, Bambuti, Batva) .
In 1929-1930. P. Shebesta's expedition described the Bambuti Pygmies; in 1934–1935 the researcher M. Guzinde found the Efe and Basua Pygmies.
At the end of the 20th century, they live in the forests of Gabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, and Rwanda.
The most ancient mention of the pygmies is contained in the story of the Egyptian Hirkhuf, a nobleman of the era of the Old Kingdom, who boasted that he managed to bring a dwarf from his campaign for the amusement of the young king. This inscription dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. e. In an Egyptian inscription, the dwarf brought by Hirkhuf is called dng. This name has survived to this day in the languages of the peoples of Ethiopia: in Amharic, a dwarf is called deng, or dat. Ancient Greek writers tell all sorts of stories about African pygmies, but all their reports are fantastic.
Pygmies lead a hunting lifestyle. In the economy of the Pygmies, gathering, apparently, occupies the first place and mainly determines the nutrition of the entire group. Most of the work falls to the share of women, since the extraction of plant food is the business of women. Every day, the women of the entire cohabiting group, accompanied by children, collect wild-growing roots, leaves of edible plants and fruits around their camp, catch worms, snails, frogs, snakes and fish.
Pygmies are forced to leave the camp as soon as all suitable plants are eaten in the vicinity of the camp and the game is destroyed. The whole group moves to another area of the forest, but wanders within the established boundaries. These boundaries are known to all and are strictly observed. Hunting on foreign lands is not allowed and may lead to hostile clashes. Almost all groups of pygmies live in close contact with a tall population, most often with the Bantu. Typically, the pygmies bring game and forest products to the villages in exchange for bananas, vegetables, and iron spearheads. All groups of pygmies speak the languages of their tall neighbors.
House of pygmies made of leaves and sticks
The primitive nature of the culture of the pygmies sharply distinguishes them from the surrounding peoples of the Negroid race. What are pygmies? Is it an autochthonous population of Central Africa? Do they constitute a special anthropological type, or is their origin the result of degradation of the tall type? These are the main questions that made up the essence of the pygmy problem, one of the most controversial in anthropology and ethnography. Soviet anthropologists believe that the Pygmies are natives of tropical Africa of a special anthropological type, of independent origin.
Height from 144 to 150 cm for adult males, skin is light brown, hair is curly, dark, lips are relatively thin, large torso, arms and legs are short, this physical type can be classified as a special race. The possible number of pygmies can range from 40 to 280 thousand people.
In external type, the negritos of Asia are close to them, but genetically there are strong differences between them.
Do you know how the word "pygmies" is translated? Fist-sized people. This is the smallest people on the planet.
Most people understand the word "pygmies" as people of short stature living in Africa. Yes, this is partly true, but even African pygmies are not one people. Various nationalities live on the Black Continent: pygmies Batwa, Bakiga, Baka, Aka, Efe, Sua, and this is not the whole list. The height of an adult male usually does not exceed 145 centimeters, and women - 133 cm.
How do the smallest people on the planet live?
The life of the pygmies is not easy) They live in temporary villages in the forests. Why temporary, you ask? The smallest people have a nomadic lifestyle, they are constantly in search of food and look for places rich in fruits and honey. They also have ancient customs. So, if a person dies in a tribe, then they bury him under the roof of a hut and leave the settlement forever.
Near temporary villages, pygmies hunt deer, antelopes and monkeys. They also collect fruits and honey. With all this, meat makes up only 9% of their diet, and they exchange the bulk of the production for garden vegetables, metal, fabrics, and tobacco from people who keep farms near the forest.
Little people are considered excellent healers: they prepare medicinal and poisonous potions from plants. It is because of this that they are disliked by other tribes, as they are credited with magical powers.
For example, the pygmies have a curious way of catching fish: first, they poison the pond, which causes the fish to float to the surface. And that's it, fishing was a success, it remains only to collect the catch. No gatherings with fishing rods on the shore or harpoon fishing. After a few hours, the poison ceases to act and again the lively fish returns to its usual life.
The life expectancy of pygmies is very short: from 16 to 24 years. People who have lived to 40 years old are real centenarians. Accordingly, they also reach puberty much earlier: at the age of 12. Well, they acquire offspring at the age of fifteen.
Still in bondage
Africa is the most controversial continent. Slavery has long been banned around the world, but not here. So, for example, in the Republic of the Congo, according to the established tradition, pygmies are inherited from the Bantu people. And these are the real slave owners: the pygmies give them their prey from the forest. But, unfortunately, a small nation is forced to endure such treatment, as the "owners" give them the products and goods necessary for survival, without which it is unrealistic to live in the forest. Moreover, the pygmies go to tricks: they can be "enslaved" by several farmers at the same time in different villages. If one owner did not give food, then, perhaps, another will make happy.
Pygmy Genocide
The smallest people for many centuries have been under constant pressure from other tribes. And here we are talking not only about slavery, but even about ... cannibalism! And in our modern world, in the XXI century. So, during the civil war in the Congo (1998-2003), pygmies were simply caught and eaten. Or, for example, in one of the provinces of Africa, North Kivu, at one time a group was operating to prepare the territory for mining. And they killed and ate pygmies in the process of cleaning up. And some peoples of the Black Continent generally believe that the flesh of a pygmy will give magical power, and communication with a woman from some undersized tribes will relieve diseases. Therefore, rape happens here very often.
Of course, all this affects the life of a small people: there are no more than 280 thousand of them left, and this figure is decreasing every year.
Why such a small stature
In fact, the miniaturization of these peoples is explained by evolution. And in different peoples, the reasons are different, scientists came to this conclusion. So, genetic analyzes have shown that in some tribes (for example, among the pygmies Sua and Efa) already in the womb, the growth limiter of the child is turned on and babies are born very small. And in other peoples (baka), children are born normal, the same as those of representatives of European races, but in the first two years they grow very slowly. All these changes at the genetic level are provoked by various factors.
So, poor nutrition contributes to short stature: the body of the pygmies has decreased in the process of evolution. The fact is that they need much less food to survive than larger nations. It is also believed that the tropics also “helped” small growth: after all, body weight affects the amount of heat produced, so large nations have a much greater chance of overheating.
Well, another theory says that miniature makes life easier in the tropics, making pygmies more nimble, because in impenetrable forests this is an excellent quality. This is how evolution helped little people adapt to lifestyle and climate.
Interesting Facts About Pygmies You Didn't Know Before
Fact #1. Many people believe that pygmies live in forests. However, this is not always the case: for example, the Twa pygmies live in deserts and swamps.
Fact #2. Moreover, some anthropologists classify dwarf peoples as pygmies, where a man’s height does not exceed 155 centimeters. In their opinion, pygmies live in different parts of the world: in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Bolivia and Brazil. Here, for example, Filipino pygmies:
Fact #3. Most of the words among the pygmies are associated with honey and plants. In general, they have lost their native language and now speak the languages of the peoples surrounding them.
Fact #4. Some researchers believe that the pygmies are representatives of an ancient people that existed more than 70 thousand years ago.
Fact #5. Pygmies were known in ancient Egypt. So, black dwarfs were brought as a gift to rich nobles.
Fact #6. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pygmy children were sold to zoos and Europe as exhibits.
Fact #7. The smallest people in the world are the Efe and Zaire pygmies. The height of women does not exceed 132 cm, and men - 143 cm.
Fact #8. In Africa, not only the shortest people live, but also the tallest. In the Dinka tribe, the average height of a man is 190 cm, and that of a woman is 180 cm.
Fact #9. Pygmies still do not use the calendar today, so they do not know the exact age.
Fact #10. A Caucasoid child at the age of 2.5 years is about the same height as a five-year-old pygmy.