Pygmies: the smallest people in the world. The Pygmy tribe - the people of equatorial Africa: photo, video, film about the life of African Pygmies. Dwellings, songs, height What are the little people in Africa called

Pygmy is a representative of one of the peoples living in the equatorial forests of Africa. This word is of Greek origin and means "a man the size of a fist." This name is quite justified, given the average growth of representatives of these tribes. Find out who the pygmies of Africa are and how they differ from the other hottest continents.

Who are the pygmies?

These tribes live in Africa, near Ogove and Ituri. In total, there are about 80 thousand pygmies, half of whom live off the banks of the Ituri River. The growth of representatives of these tribes varies from 140 to 150 cm. The color of their skin is somewhat atypical for Africans, because they have a little lighter, golden brown. Pygmies even have their own national clothes. So, men wear a fur or leather belt with a small apron made of wood in front and a small bunch of leaves at the back. Women are less fortunate, often they only have aprons.

At home

The buildings in which the representatives of this people live are made of twigs and leaves, fastening everything with clay. Oddly enough, the construction and repair of the hut here is the concern of women. A man, having planned the construction of a new house, must go to the elder for permission. If the elder agrees, he hands over to his visitor the nyombikari - a bamboo stick with a peg at the end. It is with the help of this device that the boundaries of the future home will be outlined. A man is engaged in this, all other construction concerns fall on the woman's shoulders.

Life style

A typical pygmy is a forest nomad who does not stay long in one place. Representatives of these tribes live in one place for no more than a year, while there is game around their village. When frightened animals end, the nomads are removed in search of a new home. There is another reason why people often move to a new place. Any pygmy is an extremely superstitious person. Therefore, the whole tribe, if one of its members has died, migrates, believing that the forest does not want anyone to live in this place. The deceased is buried in his hut, a wake is arranged, and the next morning the whole settlement goes deep into the forest to build a new village.

Production

Pygmies feed on what the forest gives them. Therefore, in the early morning, women of the tribe go there to replenish supplies. On the way, they collect everything edible, starting with berries and ending with caterpillars, so that every pygmy fellow tribe is full. This is an established tradition, according to which the woman is the main earner in the family.

Total

Pygmies are accustomed to the traditions of their lives that have been established for centuries. Despite the fact that the state government is trying to educate them in a more civilized life, cultivating the land and settled life, they continue to be far from this. Pygmies, photos taken by many researchers studying their customs, abandon any innovations in their everyday life and continue to do what their ancestors did for centuries.

The first mention of pygmies was made in ancient Egyptian records dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. Ancient Greek historians later 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 Juncker  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 an excellent camouflage in the forest. The hair is dark, curly, lips are 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 birds of elephants, antelopes and monkeys. For hunting use short bows and poisoned arrows. In addition to various meats, pygmies are very fond of honey from wild bees. In order to get to their favorite treats, 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 the construction of huts. Marriages between members of different tribes are quite common here. Also, absolutely any member of the tribe, when he wishes, can freely leave and join another tribe. There are no formal leaders in the tribe. The questions and problems that have arisen are resolved through open negotiations.

Weapon

A weapon is a spear, a small bow, arrows (often poisoned). Iron for arrowheads pygmies are exchanged for 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 residents of the region.

Tuva (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 cattle breeding tribes, are able to make pottery.

Tswa (Batswa)  - This large tribe lives near the swamp south of the Congo River. They, like the Twa tribe, live in collaboration with neighboring tribes, adopting their culture and language. Most of Tswa are engaged in hunting or fishing.





In the tropical forests of the Ituri province of the Republic of Congo, the lowest people on the planet live - the pygmies of the Mbuti tribe. Their average height is 135 cm. The light skin color helps them easily and quietly live in the forest shade at the level of the Stone Age.
  They do not breed cattle and do not cultivate plants. They live in close connection with the forest, but not longer than a month in one place. The basis of their diet is collected berries, nuts, honey, mushrooms, fruits and roots, and the form of their social organization is determined by hunting.

For those Mbuti who hunt mainly with bows and arrows, the group can consist of only three families, although during the honey collection season, hunters come together in large groups, which are required for raiding - running. But in the west among hunters using nets, the group should consist of at least seven families, and preferably twice as many. In cases where the group unites already 30 families, it is divided.

There is enough space for 35 thousand Mbuti in the forests of Ituri. Each group occupies its territory, always leaving in the center of the thicket a decent-sized common plot of land.

The group as a whole considers itself to be a single family, and this is the main social unit, although the group does not always consist of relatives. Its composition can also change with each monthly nomad. Therefore, there are no leaders and permanent leaders. In any case, all members of the group are in solidarity with each other.

In hunting, the family is divided into age groups. Senior men set traps and ambush with darts and batons. Young men are kept at a distance with arrows in their hands, so that if the game will slip away, kill it. And women and children are behind the young hunters, turning to face them and waiting for the caught game to be put in baskets. They carry baskets behind their backs, they are held by straps worn on their foreheads. When the group catches game for a day, it returns to the parking lot, collecting everything edible along the way. Then they cook on the fire.

The most heinous crime among the pygmies is considered when some cunning hunter sets up networks at the time of the game. The main catch is in his hands, but he does not share with anyone. But justice is restored simply and impressively. All prey is taken from the sly man, and his family remains hungry. ”

Curious Englishman Colin Turnbull decided to conduct an experiment. He really wanted to check how the pygmy would behave outside his forest. Here is what he writes: “I persuaded the experienced hunter Kenge to go with me to the Ishango National Reserve, to the savannah, which is teeming with game. Loaded with all provisions, got into the car and drove off. As it rained heavily, Kange did not even notice that the forest was left behind. When we left on a plain covered with grass, my companion began to grumble: “Not a single tree, what a bad country.”
  Only the promise of a large number of game reassured him. But then he was again upset to learn that it was impossible to hunt this game. When we climbed the slope and looked at the plain, Kenge was dumbfounded. Before him, a green plain stretched to the horizon, merging with Lake Eduard. Without end and without edge. And elephants, antelopes, buffaloes, etc. graze everywhere. This Kanga had never seen before.
  “That meat would last for many months,” he said dreamily. He got into the car and got out of it more until we left the reserve. The next day, Kanga felt more confident, and said:
  - I was wrong, this is a good place, although I do not like it. There is clear sky and clear earth. If there were only more trees ... On the way back, the deeper we drove into the forest, the louder Kanga sang. In the camp he was met as a hero

The Mbuti tribe are pygmies living in the east of Zaire, numbering about 100 thousand people and speaking the efé language. Their gloomy glory of merciless hunters is distinguished by a fairly peaceful way of life, compared with the warlike North Kenyan tribes. All tribes are already open, because European missionaries do not leave any ethnic group without their attention.

The Mbuti Pygmies change their camps every five years to move closer to civilization - near roads and rivers they can exchange their prey in the form of skins, meat, wild fruits and berries for the cultural achievements they need - salt, matches, metal objects.

Mbuti tribe

They became interested in clothes, so it is almost impossible to see their famous skirts from the leaves and bark of trees. Mbuti come into contact for such natural exchanges with settled and civilized Bantu (translated from Swahili - “people”).
  Bantu is a linguistic group of most of the Zaire tribes and many other African nationalities, the literal linguistic name of which means settled people, high growth.

Some argue that with this act, hunters redeem themselves for depriving the forest of game and vegetation, since the pygmies have a dual attitude to hunting. It brings them joy, pleasure, and they love to eat meat, but still they believe that it is not good to take life from living beings, for God created not only people in the forest, but also animals in the forest.

Children at a very young age are instilled with the idea of \u200b\u200bdependence on the forest, faith in it, make them feel like part of the forest, and therefore they are instructed to make a redeeming bonfire, without which there will be no successful hunt.

The high mobility of the pygmies also leads to the inconstant nature of public organization. Since the composition and size of groups change all the time, they cannot have leaders or individual leaders, since they, like other people, can leave and leave the group without a leader. And since Mbuti does not have a lineage system, it would be difficult to divide leadership when a group breaks into smaller units once a year. Here, in the system of government, age also plays an important role, and all but children have their own responsibilities. But even children play a role: bad behavior (laziness, grumpiness, selfishness) is not corrected with the help of the punishment system — it does not exist among the pygmies, but simply ridiculed the guilty. This children can do perfectly. This is a game for them, but through it they comprehend the moral values \u200b\u200bof adult life and quickly correct the behavior of the offender, making him laugh. Young people are more likely to influence the lives of adults, in particular, they can express their dissatisfaction with the group or the approval of the group as a whole, rather than individuals during a religious holiday prayer. For adult hunters, the decisive word in economic matters remains, but nothing more. The elders act as arbiters and make decisions on the most important issues of the group, while the elders are universally respected.

The proximity between the Mbuti pygmies and their forest world is manifested in the fact that they humanize the forest, call it father and mother, because it gives them everything they need, even life. They do not try to control the world around them, but adapt to it, and this is the fundamental difference between their attitude to the forest and the attitude of its other inhabitants, fishermen and farmers, to the forest. The Mbuti technique is very simple, and other tribes that possess a certain material wealth consider hunters to be poor. But such material wealth would only interfere with the Mbuti nomads, and the equipment they have is sufficient to satisfy their needs. They do not burden themselves with any surplus. They make clothes from bark, broken by a piece of an ivory tusk, and from bags and vines they make bags in which children are carried behind their back, quivers for arrows, sacks, jewelry and ropes for weaving hunting nets. Mbuti in a few minutes build houses from young shoots and leaves, cutting them with metal machetes and knives, which they receive from peasants living nearby. They say that if they did not have metal, they would use stone tools, but this is doubtful - the pygmies are gradually entering the Iron Age.

The abundant gifts of the forest can be judged even by the kasuku tree - the resin from its top is needed for cooking, and the resin taken from the roots of the tree is used to illuminate the dwellings. With this resin mbuti, they also cover the seams of the baskets from the bark into which they collect honey. A child from an early age learns to use the world around him so as not to destroy him, but only to take everything that is needed at the moment. His education comes down to imitation of adults. His toys are copies of objects that adults use: a boy learns to shoot slow-moving animals from a bow, and a girl walks into the forest and picks mushrooms and nuts in her tiny basket. Thus, children provide economic assistance by extracting a certain amount of food, although for them it is just a game.

Thanks to the sense of interdependence and community brought up from birth, the pygmies as a single collective confront the neighboring tribes of forest farmers, who have a completely different attitude to the forest and consider it a dangerous place that must be cleared in order to survive. Pygmies trade with these farmers, but not for economic reasons, but simply so that the farmers do not go into their forest in search of meat and other forest products that peasants always need. Villagers are afraid of both the people of the forest and the forest itself, protecting themselves from them with rituals and magic.

The only magical means of hunters is “sympathetic” - a talisman made of forest vines decorated with tiny pieces of wood, or mastic from the ash of forest fires, mixed with the fat of an animal and embedded in an antelope horn; she is then smeared with the body to ensure a successful hunt. The idea of \u200b\u200bsuch a talisman is simple: if Mbuti is even closer physically in contact with the forest, then his needs will be surely satisfied. These acts are of a religious rather than “magical” nature, as can be seen in the example of a mother who swaddles a newborn baby in a special garment made of a piece of bark (although now the mother could also get soft cloth) and decorates the baby with amulets made of lianas, leaves and pieces of wood, and then bathes it in forest water, which accumulates in some thick vines. With the help of this physical contact, the mother, as it were, devotes the child to the forest and asks for his protection. When misfortune comes, then, as Mbuti say, it’s enough for them to sing the sacred songs of the ceremony, pray “to wake the forest with them” and draw his attention to their children - then everything will be all right. This is a rich but simple faith, in stark contrast to the faith and practice of neighboring tribes.

But the rest of the life of the Mbuti has not changed, they, like in previous centuries, remain the same collectors and nomadic hunters, preserving their traditional culture.

Video: Ritual dances of African pygmies.

Do you know how the word "pygmies" is translated? People the size of a fist. This is the smallest people on the planet.

The majority under the word "pygmies" refers to the people of short stature living in Africa. Yes, this is partly true, but even African pygmies are not one nation. Various peoples live on the Black Continent: the Pygmies Batwa, Bakig, 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 way of life, they are constantly in search of food and look for places rich in fruits and honey. And they also have ancient customs. So, if a person died in a tribe, then they will bury him under the roof of the hut and leave the settlement forever.

Near the temporary villages, pygmies prey on deer, antelopes and monkeys. They also collect fruit and honey. With all this, meat makes up only 9% of their diet, and they exchange most of the production for garden vegetables, metal, fabrics, tobacco for people who keep farms near the forest.

Little people are considered excellent healers: they prepare healing and poisonous potions from plants. It is because of this that other tribes do not like them, as they attribute magical power to them.


For example, the pygmies have a curious way to fish: first they poison the pond, which is why the fish floats to the surface. And everything, fishing was a success, it remains only to collect the catch. No gatherings with fishing rods on the shore or fishing with a harpoon. After a few hours, the poison ceases to function and again the lively fish returns to its usual life.

The life span of the pygmies is very short: from 16 to 24 years. People who have lived to be 40 are true centenarians. Accordingly, puberty occurs in them much earlier: at 12 years old. Well, they acquire offspring at the age of fifteen.

Still in slavery

Africa is the most controversial continent. Slavery has long been banned around the world, but not here. For example, in the Republic of the Congo, according to the established tradition, the 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, the small people are forced to endure such treatment, since the "owners" give them the products and goods necessary for survival, without which it is impossible to live in the forest. Moreover, pygmies go on tricks: they can be in "slavery" at several farmers at the same time in different villages. If one owner has not given food, then perhaps the other will make happy.

Pygmy Genocide


The smallest people for many centuries are under constant pressure from other tribes. And here we are talking not only about slavery, but even about ... cannibalism! Moreover, in our modern world, in the 21st 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 there was a group to prepare the territory for mining. And in the process of stripping, they killed and ate the pygmies. And some peoples of the Black continent generally believe that the pygmy flesh will give magical power, and the connection with a woman from some undersized tribes will relieve diseases. Therefore, rape here happens very often.

Of course, all this affects the life of a small nation: there are no more than 280 thousand of them left, and this figure decreases every year.

Why so short


In fact, the miniature of these peoples is explained by evolution. Moreover, the reasons are different in different nations, and this is precisely the conclusion that scientists have come to. Thus, genetic tests have shown that in some tribes (for example, among the pygmies sua and efa), the growth restrictor of the child is already activated in the womb and the babies are born very small. And in other nations (bak), children are born normal, the same as those of the 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, stunting contributes to poor nutrition: the body of the pygmies decreased during 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 brisk, because in impassable forests this is an excellent quality. This is how evolution helped small people adapt to lifestyle and climate.

Interesting facts about pygmies that you did not know before

Fact No. 1. Many believe that pygmies live in forests. However, this is not always the case: for example, the Tuva pygmies live in deserts and swamps.

Fact No. 2. Moreover, some anthropologists attribute pygmy peoples to the pygmies, 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. For example, Filipino pygmies:


Fact No. 3. Most of the words in pygmies are associated with honey and plants. In general, they have lost their native language and now speak the languages \u200b\u200bof the peoples around them.

Fact No. 4. Some researchers believe that the pygmies are representatives of an ancient people that existed more than 70 thousand years ago.

Fact No. 5. Pygmies were known in ancient Egypt. So, rich dignitaries brought black dwarfs as a gift.

Fact No. 6. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, pygmy children were sold to zoos and Europe as exhibits.

Fact No. 7. The smallest people in the world are the pygmies of efe and Zaire. The height of women does not exceed 132 cm, and men - 143 cm.

Fact No. 8. In Africa, not only the lowest people live, but also the highest. In the Dinka tribe, the average height of a man is 190 cm, and women -180 cm.

Fact No. 9. Pygmies today do not use the calendar, so they do not know the exact age.

Fact No. 10. A 2.5-year-old European child is about the same height as a five-year-old pygmy.

Pygmies were first mentioned in ancient Egyptian inscriptions of the 3rd millennium BC. e. at a later time - in ancient Greek sources. In the XVI — XVII centuries. they are called "matimba" are mentioned in descriptions left by researchers in West Africa. In the 19th century, their existence was confirmed by the German explorer G. Schweinfurt, the Russian explorer V.V. Juncker and others who discovered these tribes in the tropical forests of the Ituri and Uzle rivers. In 1929-1930 The expeditions of P. Shebest were described by the Bambuti pygmies; in 1934–1935, the researcher M. Guzindé found the pygmies Efe and Basua.

Size and population

The total population of the pygmies is about 300 thousand people. . Including in Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, more than 100 thousand people. Zaire - 70 thousand. Congo - 25 thousand. Cameroon - 15 thousand. Gabon - 5 thousand. They speak Bantu languages, the pygmies of the Ituri river - in Seremundo languages.

Pygmies make up the pygmy Negroid race, they are characterized by short stature, yellowish skin tone, narrow lips, narrow and low tolerance. Before resettling the Bantu, the pygmies occupied the whole of Central Africa, then they were forced out into the rainforest region. They were in strong isolation. Preserved archaic culture. They are engaged in hunting, gathering and fishing. A weapon is a bow with arrows, often poisoned, with an iron tip, sometimes a small spear. Widely used traps and traps. Applied art is developed. They retain many features of the tribal structure, wander in groups of 2-4 families.

Occupation

Pygmies feed only on what they find, catch, or kill in the jungle. They are excellent hunters and their favorite meat is elephant, but more often they manage to get not very large animals or fish. Pygmies have a special fishing technique. The method they use is based on poisoning fish with plant poisons. The fish falls asleep and floats to the surface, after which it can be collected simply by hand. Pygmies live in harmony with nature and take as much fish as they need. Unclaimed fish wakes up after half an hour without any damage.

Who are the Pygmies? PIGMEI is a people living in the equatorial forests and migrating from parking to parking, depending on the time of year. Pygmies make up the pygmy Negroid race, they are characterized by short stature, yellowish skin tone, narrow lips, narrow and low tolerance. The average life expectancy of pygmies is from 16 to 24 years, depending on the particular people, so evolution has made sure that they quickly reach the state of an adult, albeit a short person, in order to have children. It is believed that this is the oldest inhabitants of the Congo Basin. According to recent estimates, the number of pygmies in the world varies from 150 thousand to 300 thousand people. The vast majority of them live in Central Africa: Burundi, Gabon, DRC, Zaire, Cameroon, Congo, Rwanda, Equatorial Guinea, Uganda and the Central African Republic.

The first mention of pygmies was made in ancient Egyptian records dating back to the 3rd millennium BC. Later, the ancient Greek historians Herodotus, Strabo, Homer wrote about the pygmies. The real existence of these African tribes was confirmed only in the 19th century by the German traveler Georg Schweinfurt. Russian researcher Vasily Junker and others.

The growth of adult male pygmies is from 144-150 cm in height. Women are about 120 cm. They have short limbs, light brown skin, which serves as an excellent camouflage in the forest. The hair is dark, curly, lips are thin.

Pygmies live in the forests. Forest for them is the supreme deity the source of everything necessary for survival. The traditional occupation for most pygmies is hunting and gathering. They hunt birds of elephants, antelopes and monkeys. For hunting use short bows and poisoned arrows. In addition to various meats, pygmies are very fond of honey from wild bees. In order to get to their favorite treats, 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 the construction of huts. Marriages between members of different tribes are quite common here. Also, absolutely any member of the tribe, when he wishes, can freely leave and join another tribe. There are no formal leaders in the tribe. The questions and problems that have arisen are resolved through open negotiations.

A weapon is a spear, a small bow, arrows. Iron for arrowheads pygmies are exchanged for 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, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Cameroon and Gabon.

Mbutis  tribe of pygmies living in the Ituri forest in Zaire. Most scientists believe that they were most likely the first residents of the region.

TWA  Pygmy tribe 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 cattle breeding tribes, are able to make pottery.

Tsva  this large tribe lives near a swamp south of the Congo River. They, like the Twa tribe, live in collaboration with neighboring tribes, adopting their culture and language. Most of Tswa are engaged in hunting or fishing.

A group of peoples belonging to the Negril race, the indigenous population of tropical Africa. They speak the languages \u200b\u200bof Bantu, Adamua East Group and Shari Nile Group. Many pygmies maintain a stray lifestyle, an archaic culture, and traditional beliefs.

  - in Greek mythology, a dwarf tribe symbolizing the barbaric world. The name is associated with the small growth of the pygmies and symbolizes a distorted perception of a genuine ethnic group. The Greeks determined the size of the pygmies from ant to monkey. According to various sources, this tribe lived on the southern periphery of Oikumena - south of Egypt or in India. Herodotus attributed the habitat of the pygmies to the headwaters of the Nile. Strabo enumerated the pygmies along with large-headed, nest-eared, serpentine, beznosy, one-eyed and hook-toed half-dogs.

There was a legend that the pygmies gave rise to the fertile layer of land in the valleys of the Egyptian river, so they sometimes acted as a symbol of the fertility of the semi-gaze lands of the south. To harvest the ears, they armed themselves with axes, as if they were going to cut down a forest. Pliny the Elder claimed that the pygmies built their huts from mud mixed with feathers and eggshells, and Aristotle settled them in underground caves.

A characteristic motif of the mythology of the pygmies is geranomachy. Legends have it that pygmies annually for three months fight cranes while riding on rams, goats and partridges, trying to steal or break the eggs of birds. Moreover, military campaigns that took three months a year from the pygmies, they made in the southern Russian steppes, where there were crane nests. Their enmity was explained by the legend of turning into a crane a pygmy girl who opposed the tribe. The symbolism of geranomachia was found on vases, mosaics, Pompeii frescoes and gems.

Another symbolic motif associated with the pygmies was Heraclomachia: myths tell us that the pygmies tried to kill the sleeping hero, taking revenge on him for the victory over their brother Antei. Hercules gathered the pygmies in the shoes of the Nemean lion and carried them to Eurystheus. Family relations with Antei were intended to emphasize the semiotic image of the pygmies, its astonic aspect. A popular technique in art was the reduction of the pygmies and giants into a single storyline.

The Carthaginian deity was also called a pygmy, whose head, carved from wood, the Carthaginians placed on military ships to intimidate enemies.

Pygmies in Africa

The word "pygmy" usually means something small. In anthropology, this refers to a member of any human group whose adult male height does not exceed one and a half meters in height. But the basic concept of this word, as a rule, refers to the African pygmy tribes.

The growth of most African pygmies is from 1 m 22 cm to 1 m 42 cm in height. They have short limbs. The skin is reddish-brown in color and serves as camouflage in the forest. The head is usually round and wide, with curly hair.

Most pygmies are traditional hunters and gatherers. They prey on antelopes, birds, elephants and monkeys. To do this, use small bows and poisoned arrows for hunting. Women usually pick berries, mushrooms, nuts and roots.

Pygmies live in small groups. Each tribe consists of at least fifty members. There is territory for the construction of huts in each group. But with the threat of extinction of food, each tribe may occupy a different territory. Marriages are common among members of different tribes. In addition, any member of the group can freely leave one and join another tribe whenever he wishes. There are no formal tribal leaders. All problems are solved through open negotiations.

Sources: www.africa.org.ua, ppt4web.ru, www.worldme.ru, c-cafe.ru, www.e-allmoney.ru

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