Interesting facts about the smallest people that you did not know before. The smallest people in the world The population of Africa pygmies
To begin with, let's get acquainted with the facts and reports of scientists about the pygmy tribes. Information about mysterious short people not as many as one 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. When he was traveling in Egypt, he was told a story about how one day young men from African tribe Nasamonov 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 magicians.
“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 swamps, from which 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 South-East Asia(Andaman Islands, Philippines, and Malacca rainforests)."
Hunters and gatherers in Africa are represented by three main groups - the Pygmies of Central Africa, the Bushmen South Africa and Hadza 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 on various levels 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 most tall people on the ground. 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 western regions rainforest- baguielli, obongo, akoa, bachva, bayele, etc. In addition, there is also a group of eastern African pygmies- bones.
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 average duration life is only 20 years. Higher and stronger Negro tribes oppress the Pygmies and survive them on unsuitable areas for existence.
Some scholars are also trying to connect short period the life of the pygmies with their growth (compare the lifespan 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 conditions environment.
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."
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 power.
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 habitual 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 21st century. Yes, during the period 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 nations 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 various factors.
So, short stature contributes poor nutrition: 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 considered that small stature The tropics also “helped”: 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 the 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 refer to the pygmies dwarf peoples where the height of a man 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. But in general, native language they have lost and now speak the languages of the peoples around 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 back in Ancient Egypt. So, black dwarfs were brought as a gift to rich nobles.
Fact #6. AT late XIX At the beginning of the 20th century, 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 live not only the most low people but also the highest. 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.
- (Pygmaei, Πυγμαι̃οι). The mythical people of dwarfs, the size of πηγμή, τ. e. growth is not more than the distance from the elbow to the fist. According to Homer, they lived on the shores of the Ocean; subsequently, their residence began to be considered the sources of the Nile, as well as India. Current… … Encyclopedia of mythology
pygmies- a group of peoples belonging to the Negril race, indigenous people tropical Africa. They speak Bantu languages (Twa, 185 thousand people, 1992; Rwanda, Burundi, Zaire), Adamaua of the eastern group (Aka, Binga, etc., 35 thousand people; Congo, CAR) and Shari ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
pygmies- (inosk.) people are morally insignificant. Wed For the crowd he is great, for the crowd he is a prophet; For himself he is nothing, for himself he is a pygmy!... Nadson. “You see, there he is!” Cf. He loved his poor Fatherland among his wanderings. She was wrapped in mules, Her pygmies ... ... Michelson's Big Explanatory Phraseological Dictionary (original spelling)
pygmies Modern Encyclopedia
pygmies- From ancient Greek: Pigmaios. Literally: The size of a fist. AT ancient Greek mythology Pygmies were called the fabulous people of dwarfs, who were so small that they often became victims of cranes, like frogs. Therefore, dwarfs had to ... ... Dictionary of winged words and expressions
pygmies- the people of dwarfs, who lived, according to the legendary legends of the Greeks, on the shores of the ocean (Homer) and at the sources of the Nile (late writer), where he fought constantly with cranes. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Pavlenkov F., 1907. pygmies ... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language
pygmies- (Pugmaioi), own. people the size of a fist in Greek mythology are a fabulous people of dwarfs living in Libya. Iliad (III, 6) tells of their battles with cranes (cf. L. v. Sybel, Mythologie derIlias, 1877, and L. F. Voevodsky, Introduction to mythology ... ... Encyclopedia of Brockhaus and Efron
pygmies- PYGMIES, a group of peoples: Twa, Binga, Bibaya, Ghielli, Efe, Kango, Aka, Mbuti with a total number of 350 thousand people belonging to the Negrillian race, the indigenous population Tropical Africa. The name comes from the Greek pygmaios (literally the size of ... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary
pygmies- a group of peoples in Central Africa. Total population 390 thousand people (1995). They speak Bantu languages. Many pygmies retain a wandering lifestyle, archaic culture, and traditional beliefs. * * * PYGMIES PYGMIES, a group of peoples belonging to ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary
pygmies- (from the Greek "fist" or "distance" from the fist to the elbow) in Greek mythology, a tribe of dwarfs, symbolizing the barbarian world. The name is associated with the small growth of the pygmies and symbolizes a distorted perception of the true ethnic group. The Greeks defined... Symbols, signs, emblems. Encyclopedia
Books
- Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, Sergei Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic accomplishments of the Leader, the current masters of the Kremlin look like real dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy the political ... Buy for 210 rubles
- Kremlin pygmies against the titan Stalin, or Russia to be found, Sergey Kremlev. Although Putin and Medvedev are the same height as Stalin, in comparison with the titanic accomplishments of the Leader, the current masters of the Kremlin look like real dwarfs. And the pygmies will always envy the political...
Baka pygmies inhabit the rainforests of southeastern Cameroon, northern Republic of the Congo, northern Gabon, and southwestern Central African Republic. In February 2016, photographer and journalist Susan Shulman spent several days among Baka pygmies, making a short report about their life.
Tropical rainforests are natural environment habitat. The main occupations are hunting and gathering, in this harmonious unity with nature they live for centuries, and their world is determined by the presence of the forest. Pygmy tribes are scattered across Africa over an area of 178 million hectares.
Pygmies differ from representatives of other African tribes in their diminutiveness - their height rarely exceeds 140 cm. In the photo above, members of the tribe perform a traditional hunting ceremony.
Susan Shulman became interested in the life of the Baka Pygmies after hearing about Louis Sarno, an American scientist who has been living among the Baka Pygmies in Central Africa for 30 years. rain forest between Cameroon and the Republic of the Congo.
Louis Sarno is married to a woman from the tribe, all these years he has been studying, helping and treating Baka pygmies. According to him, half of the children do not live up to five years, and if he left the tribe for at least a year, he would be afraid to return, because he would not have found many friends alive. Louis Sarno is now in his early sixties, and the average life expectancy of Baka pygmies is forty years.
Louis Sarno not only provides medicines, but also does other things: he acts as a teacher for children, a lawyer, translator, archivist, writer and chronicler for a community of 600 Baka pygmies in the village of Yandubi.
Louis Sarno came to live with the Pygmies in the mid-80s after hearing their music on the radio one day and decided to go and record as much of that music as possible. And he doesn't regret it one bit. He has the opportunity to regularly visit America and Europe, but always returns to Africa. We can say that the song brought him to the heart of Africa.
Baka pygmy music is yodeling-like polyphonic singing against the natural sounds of the rainforest. Imagine the polyphony of 40 female voices and the drumming rhythm of four men on plastic drums.
Louis Sarno claims he's never heard anything like it before, and it's divine.
Their hypnotic music usually acts as a prelude to the hunt, as the tribe sings to summon a forest spirit named Bobi and ask him for permission to hunt in his forest.
Dressed in a suit of leaves, the "spirit of the forest" grants permission to the tribe and blesses those who take part in tomorrow's hunt. In the picture above, the pygmy is about to go hunting with a net.
The basis of the diet of the tribe is the meat of the monkey and the blue duiker, a small forest antelope, but in recent times these animals in the forest is becoming less and less. This is due to poaching and logging.
“Poachers hunt at night, they scare animals with torches and calmly shoot them while they are paralyzed with fear. The nets and arrows of the pygmies of the tank cannot compete with firearms poachers.
Deforestation and poachers seriously devastate the forest and greatly harm the way of life of Baka pygmies. Many of these poachers are from the neighboring Bantu ethnic group, which makes up the majority of the population in the region,” says Susan Schulman.
As a result of the gradual depletion of the rain forests in which the Baka live, the future of their forest home is in question, as it is not clear where all this will lead.
Historically, the Bantu tribe considered Baka Pygmies "subhuman" and discriminated against them. Currently, relations between them have improved, but some echoes of the past still make themselves felt.
As the traditional life of Baka Pygmies becomes more difficult and problematic by the day, the younger generation has to find work in Bantu-dominated cities.
“Young people are at the forefront of change. There are very few opportunities to earn money for them. As the resources of the forest in terms of hunting are depleted, you have to look for other opportunities - and this is usually only temporary work for the Bantu, who offer, say, $ 1 for five days of hunting - and even then they often forget to pay, ”says Susan.
And etc.; formerly presumably Pygmy languages
traditional beliefs
Negril type large black race
Pygmies(gr. Πυγμαῖοι
- "people the size of a fist") - a group of undersized Negroid peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa. Another name for African pygmies is negrilli.
Evidence
Mentioned already in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e., in more late time- in ancient Greek sources (in Homer's Iliad, in Herodotus and Strabo).
Pygmies in mythology
Physical type
The efe and sua peoples living to the east of the tank initially give birth to small children - the growth limiter is turned on during prenatal development. Bak children are born normal, but in the first two years of life, Bak children grow noticeably slower than Europeans.
Occupation
Pygmies are inhabitants of the forests, the forest for them is the source of everything necessary for life. The main occupations are hunting and gathering. Pygmies do not make stone tools, they did not know how to make fire before (they carried the source of fire with them). The hunting weapon is a bow with arrows with metal tips, and these tips are often poisoned. Iron barter from neighbors.
Language
Pygmies usually speak the languages of the peoples around them - efe, asua, bambuti, etc. There are some phonetic differences in the dialects of the pygmies, but with the exception of the Baka people, the pygmies have lost their native languages.
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Notes
Literature
- Putnam E. Eight Years Among the Pygmies / Ann Putnam; With preface and ed. B. I. Sharevskaya; Artist B. A. Diodorov. - M .: Publishing house of Eastern literature, 1961. - 184 p. - (Journey through the countries of the East). - 75,000 copies.(reg.)
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An excerpt characterizing the Pygmies
“Dr… or fool!…” he said.“And that one isn’t! they’ve been gossiping about her too,” he thought about the little princess, who was not in the dining room.
- Where is the princess? - he asked. - Hiding?...
“She is not quite well,” said m lle Bourienne, smiling cheerfully, “she will not come out. It's so understandable in her position.
- Hm! um! uh! uh! - said the prince and sat down at the table.
The plate seemed to him not clean; he pointed to the stain and dropped it. Tikhon picked it up and handed it to the barman. The little princess was not unwell; but she was so irresistibly afraid of the prince that, hearing how he was in a bad mood, she decided not to go out.
“I am afraid for the child,” she said to m lle Bourienne, “God knows what can be done from fright.
In general, the little princess lived in the Bald Mountains constantly under a feeling of fear and antipathy towards the old prince, which she was not aware of, because fear prevailed so much that she could not feel it. There was also antipathy on the part of the prince, but it was drowned out by contempt. The princess, having settled down in the Bald Mountains, especially fell in love with m lle Bourienne, spent days with her, asked her to spend the night with her, and often spoke with her about her father-in-law and judged him.
- Il nous arrive du monde, mon prince, [Guests are coming to us, prince.] - said m lle Bourienne, unrolling a white napkin with her pink hands. - Son excellence le prince Kouraguine avec son fils, a ce que j "ai entendu dire? [His Excellency Prince Kuragin with his son, how much have I heard?] - she said inquiringly.
“Hm… this excellence boy… I appointed him to the collegium,” the prince said indignantly. - And why the son, I can not understand. Princess Lizaveta Karlovna and Princess Marya may know; I don't know why he's bringing this son here. I don't need. And he looked at the blushing daughter.
- Unhealthy, right? From the fear of the minister, as this blockhead Alpatych said today.
- No, mon pere. [father.]
No matter how unsuccessfully m lle Bourienne got on the subject of conversation, she did not stop and chatted about greenhouses, about the beauty of a new blossoming flower, and the prince softened after the soup.
After dinner he went to his daughter-in-law. The little princess sat at a small table and chatted with Masha, the maid. She turned pale when she saw her father-in-law.
The little princess has changed a lot. She was more bad than good, now. The cheeks drooped, the lip rose up, the eyes were drawn down.
“Yes, some kind of heaviness,” she answered the prince’s question about what she felt.
- Do you need something?
- No, merci, mon pere. [thank you, father.]
- Well, well, well.
He left and went to the waiter's room. Alpatych, bowing his head, stood in the waiter's room.
- Abandoned road?
- Zakidana, Your Excellency; sorry, for God's sake, for one stupidity.
The prince interrupted him and laughed his unnatural laugh.
- Well, well, well.
He extended his hand, which Alpatych kissed, and went into the office.
In the evening Prince Vasily arrived. He was met on the preshpekt (that was the name of the avenue) by coachmen and waiters, with a shout they drove his wagons and sledges to the wing along a road deliberately covered with snow.
Prince Vasily and Anatole were given separate rooms.
Anatole was sitting, taking off his camisole and propping himself on his hips, in front of the table, on the corner of which he, smiling, intently and absently directed his beautiful big eyes. He looked at his whole life as an uninterrupted entertainment, which someone for some reason undertook to arrange for him. So now he looked at his trip to the evil old man and to the rich ugly heiress. All this could come out, according to his assumption, very well and funny. And why not marry, if she is very rich? It never interferes, thought Anatole.
He shaved, perfumed himself with the thoroughness and panache that had become his habit, and with a good-natured victorious expression innate in him, carrying his beautiful head high, he entered the room to his father. Near Prince Vasily, his two valets bustled about, dressing him; he himself looked around him animatedly and nodded merrily to his son as he entered, as if he were saying: “So, that’s how I need you!”
- No, no jokes, father, is she very ugly? BUT? he asked, as if continuing a conversation that had been carried on more than once during the journey.
- Full. Nonsense! The main thing is to try to be respectful and prudent with the old prince.
“If he scolds, I will leave,” said Anatole. I can't stand these old people. BUT?
“Remember that everything depends on you.
At that time, the arrival of the minister with his son was not only known in the girls' room, but appearance both of them have already been described in detail. Princess Marya sat alone in her room and tried in vain to overcome her inner agitation.
“Why did they write, why did Lisa tell me about it? After all, this cannot be! she said to herself, looking in the mirror. - How do I get into the living room? Even if I liked him, I could not be myself with him now. Just the thought of her father's gaze horrified her.
The little princess and m lle Bourienne have already received all the necessary information from the maid Masha about what a ruddy, black-browed handsome minister's son was, and about how papa dragged their feet by force to the stairs, and he, like an eagle, walking up three steps, ran after him. Having received this information, the little princess with m lle Bourienne, still audible from the corridor with their animated voices, entered the princess's room.