Undated
Equatorial and tropical forests, especially the Ituri and Uele regions
The extract presents Pygmy populations as early inhabitants of the equatorial and tropical forests of Africa. It argues that incoming Bantu-speaking populations gradually displaced them into the densest and most remote forest zones, leaving isolated communities as surviving enclaves of a formerly more extensive population. The discussion also refers to dwarf groups in the Sudan and Ethiopia, while distinguishing the historical evidence for these groups from the broader forest populations.
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The Story
Pygmy populations are described as inhabitants of the equatorial forest who were gradually displaced by incoming peoples speaking Bantu languages. The process is portrayed as a movement toward the densest and most distant parts of the forest, particularly in the Ituri and Uele regions. The account uses this displacement to explain why later isolated groups could represent remnants of a much wider earlier population.
The Nsong-a-Lianja, an epic cycle of the Mongo concerning the peopling of the Zaïre valley, is cited as a tradition recalling the movement of Pygmies into remote forest areas. Comparable legends are said to exist among other Bantu-speaking peoples. These traditions are used cautiously as supporting evidence for a historical memory of population replacement and retreat, rather than as precise chronological records.
The extract also refers to dwarf groups in what is now Sudan and in present-day Ethiopia. Terms recorded in Amharic and several Ethiopian languages are compared, and a letter is said to describe an earlier dwarf brought to Pharaoh Isesi during the fifth dynasty. These references broaden the discussion beyond the equatorial forest, but the passage does not establish that all such groups belonged to one historical population.
Undated
Equatorial and tropical forests, especially the Ituri and Uele regions
The extract presents Pygmy populations as early inhabitants of the equatorial and tropical forests of Africa. It argues that incoming Bantu-speaking populations gradually displaced them into the densest and most remote forest zones, leaving isolated communities as surviving enclaves of a formerly more extensive population. The discussion also refers to dwarf groups in the Sudan and Ethiopia, while distinguishing the historical evidence for these groups from the broader forest populations.
Continue exploring
The Story
Pygmy populations are described as inhabitants of the equatorial forest who were gradually displaced by incoming peoples speaking Bantu languages. The process is portrayed as a movement toward the densest and most distant parts of the forest, particularly in the Ituri and Uele regions. The account uses this displacement to explain why later isolated groups could represent remnants of a much wider earlier population.
The Nsong-a-Lianja, an epic cycle of the Mongo concerning the peopling of the Zaïre valley, is cited as a tradition recalling the movement of Pygmies into remote forest areas. Comparable legends are said to exist among other Bantu-speaking peoples. These traditions are used cautiously as supporting evidence for a historical memory of population replacement and retreat, rather than as precise chronological records.
The extract also refers to dwarf groups in what is now Sudan and in present-day Ethiopia. Terms recorded in Amharic and several Ethiopian languages are compared, and a letter is said to describe an earlier dwarf brought to Pharaoh Isesi during the fifth dynasty. These references broaden the discussion beyond the equatorial forest, but the passage does not establish that all such groups belonged to one historical population.
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