10 Things you didn’t know about the Pygmies Anthropologists will define a pygmy as anyone who belongs to an ethnic group with an average height 150 cm or less for adults. While most people associate Pygmies with just Central Africa, they are found all over the world, everywhere from Burma to Polynesia. Initially, scientists speculated that Pygmies were a different species altogether; they believed that pygmies were the missing link between modern man and apes. We on listverse have covered the story of Ota Benga, the Pygmy man who was exhibited at Bronx Zoo. However, there has been no evidence till date to back these claims though. 1:LIFE expectancy of a pygmy is 16 to 24 years. There has been a lot of speculation over why pygmies are so short. Scientists from all over the world have put forward various ideas to explain this phenomenon. Some have suggested that, this is due to shortage of food, for better mobility through the jungle, to cope up with the heat etc. It’s still debatable as to why they are short but what we know for a fact is that, some Pygmy tribes have really low life expectancy, around 16 to 24 years on average. A study done on the Aeta and Batak people in Indonesia reveals that their short height is in fact a direct consequence of preparing the body to reproduce at an early age. They have a high mortality …show more content…
The first time a girl gets her period; she is swiftly taken away and put in hut with a flat roof instead of hemispherical. They stay in that little hut from anywhere between six months to a year. Inside, the girl is taken care of by other younger girls from the community; they rub palm oil on her and cover her with palm leaves to protect her from the sunlight. During this period, the girl is supposed to eat well and put on weight, to be ready for the end ceremony. Even when the girl needs to answer nature’s calls, she gets carried out of the hut by her