Undated
Equatorial forests of Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Zaire, and Rwanda
Pygmy peoples are described as forest populations whose physical characteristics developed through long adaptation and isolation in extremely humid environments. Historically, their distribution was broader than their modern range, and they were progressively displaced toward dense equatorial forests by incoming Bantu-speaking populations. Egyptian inscriptions from the Old Kingdom provide early historical evidence for dwarfs associated with regions south of Egypt.
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The Story
The extract presents Pygmy peoples as populations associated with the equatorial forest environment. Their physical type is interpreted as the result of adaptation to a very humid climate and the virtual absence of light within dense forest. This explanation rejects an assumed racial connection between African Pygmies and dwarf populations of southern Asia, treating the similarities instead as products of long isolation and environmental adaptation.
In the present geographical distribution described here, Pygmies are found in the forests of Cameroon, Gabon, parts of the Central African Republic, Zaire, and Rwanda. The extract stresses that their earlier range was considerably larger. Oral traditions from western Africa refer to dwarf groups living in forests before the arrival of taller peoples, while historical evidence indicates Pygmies once inhabited regions where they are no longer found.
The earliest written evidence cited comes from Egypt during the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. An inscription in the tomb of Herkhuf at Aswan preserves a letter from Pharaoh Pepi II thanking him for bringing a dwarf named Deng. The passage adds that a similar dwarf had been brought to Pharaoh Isesi during the Fifth Dynasty, and compares this evidence with reports of people called doko in parts of southern Ethiopia.
The Pygmy populations of the equatorial forest were gradually pushed into the most remote and densely wooded areas by incoming peoples speaking Bantu languages. The extract ends while describing this displacement, so it does not provide a complete account of the later relationship between the forest populations and their neighbours.
Undated
Equatorial forests of Cameroon, Gabon, Central African Republic, Zaire, and Rwanda
Pygmy peoples are described as forest populations whose physical characteristics developed through long adaptation and isolation in extremely humid environments. Historically, their distribution was broader than their modern range, and they were progressively displaced toward dense equatorial forests by incoming Bantu-speaking populations. Egyptian inscriptions from the Old Kingdom provide early historical evidence for dwarfs associated with regions south of Egypt.
Continue exploring
The Story
The extract presents Pygmy peoples as populations associated with the equatorial forest environment. Their physical type is interpreted as the result of adaptation to a very humid climate and the virtual absence of light within dense forest. This explanation rejects an assumed racial connection between African Pygmies and dwarf populations of southern Asia, treating the similarities instead as products of long isolation and environmental adaptation.
In the present geographical distribution described here, Pygmies are found in the forests of Cameroon, Gabon, parts of the Central African Republic, Zaire, and Rwanda. The extract stresses that their earlier range was considerably larger. Oral traditions from western Africa refer to dwarf groups living in forests before the arrival of taller peoples, while historical evidence indicates Pygmies once inhabited regions where they are no longer found.
The earliest written evidence cited comes from Egypt during the Sixth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. An inscription in the tomb of Herkhuf at Aswan preserves a letter from Pharaoh Pepi II thanking him for bringing a dwarf named Deng. The passage adds that a similar dwarf had been brought to Pharaoh Isesi during the Fifth Dynasty, and compares this evidence with reports of people called doko in parts of southern Ethiopia.
The Pygmy populations of the equatorial forest were gradually pushed into the most remote and densely wooded areas by incoming peoples speaking Bantu languages. The extract ends while describing this displacement, so it does not provide a complete account of the later relationship between the forest populations and their neighbours.
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