Seeking the Origin of Black People in Oceania and Asia ...

The main country in Oceania is Australia, so let's talk about the origin of Australian blacks.

According to statistics (1984), the population of Australia is 15544000, of which 95% are white, but the earliest residents are Australians. Scientists have confirmed that black Australians moved in from outside. This will inevitably lead to the origin of black Australians.

Robert fitzroy, a British navigator, first raised the issue of the origin of African blacks. He first pointed out in 1839 that African blacks and Tasmanian blacks are descendants of African blacks, or they were accidentally blown here by the storm while taking a boat, or they were slaves who escaped. The "African theory" about the origin of African blacks in Australia came from this. This theory is obviously groundless speculation, which has long been refuted by archaeological data and related materials of anthropology, ethnology and historical linguistics. Although fitzroy's "Africa Theory" is not sufficient, his first view that African-Americans moved in from outside the mainland is correct and valuable.

1847, the British anthropologist General De believed that the ancestors of black Australians were originally the "negri Toto Race" distributed in the islands of Oceania, and later arrived at the north shore of the Australian mainland through New Guinea or Timor, and then gradually spread to all parts of the mainland, resulting in the "negri Toto Race Theory".

1At the end of the 9th century and the beginning of the 20th century, two famous anthropologists made an in-depth discussion on the origin of African-Americans and drew many important conclusions. They are British scholars John Matthew and A.E. Harvey. Matthew believes that black Australians are a mixture of two or three ethnic groups. He said that the earliest ethnic groups of African-Americans in Australia are the Papuans (that is, the negri Tuos) living in southern New Guinea and the ethnic groups closely related to the Indian Darrow Vitas. The theoretical basis of Matthew: 1. In linguistics, they all call the phrases curly hair and straight hair, dark skin and light skin, dark blood and light blood, etc. 2. Everyone has the myth of fighting with birds; 3. African-Americans have the customs and habits of Papua and Dalovita.

Harvey inherited and developed Matthew's point of view and put forward the theory of racial composition order of black Australians. Halvette pointed out that African-Americans in Australia are a mixture of black people and Caucasian dark people, first black people and then Caucasian dark people. He also said that the Darovites in India today are also descendants of the Caucasian dark race; Up to now, there are also Vader people in Sri Lanka, Ainu people in Japan, Miao people in China, and Toda people in India who are related to black Australians.

The merit of Matthew and Harvitt is that they point out the factors that form the racial composition of African-Americans in Australia, but the deficiency of their theory is that they don't pay attention to the cultural factors that distinguish ethnic groups. This task was completed by German scholar Grabner.

About the same time as Havert, German scholar Grabner published an article about the origin of African-Americans and the cultural circles and layers in Oceania. In the article, he put forward a new theory about the origin of African-Americans in Australia, the so-called "cultural circle" or "cultural layer" theory. Grabner pointed out that there are four different cultural layers or circles among African-Americans in Australia today. These four cultures spread from different regions to the Australian mainland in different periods. They are: 1. Tasmanian culture, also known as Gunigrito culture; 2. Flyer culture, also known as new black culture; 3. Totem culture, also known as West Papua culture; 4. Two-level culture, also known as East Papua culture. He said that all the above four cultures have spread to Australia, but only one culture has spread to Tasmania, namely Tasmanian culture. It is the first two cultures that spread to the developed southeast coastal areas and southern regions. The third culture spread to the northwest, and the fourth culture spread to the whole Australian continent in the east-west direction. Grabner said that in terms of the chronological order of these four cultures, the first two are the oldest, the third is the second, and the fourth is the second. As far as its primary and secondary status is concerned, the fourth culture is all over the Australian mainland, but every region has one culture, and the rest are secondary, thus forming a historical phenomenon that the four cultures overlap and blend with each other. Schmidt, a Catholic priest and a student of Grabernard, inherited his teacher's theory, and at the same time, he discussed the origin of African-Americans from the perspective of religion and historical linguistics to supplement Grabernard's theory. Scholars have been discussing this issue since then. In recent decades, all kinds of science have advanced by leaps and bounds, especially the large-scale archaeological excavations, which have provided superior conditions for understanding the origin of black Australians. Scholars have made the following new achievements on the basis of predecessors and new materials:

New achievements in archaeology.

As early as 1884, a boy's skull fragment with the age of 14- 16 was excavated at a depth of 2-3 meters on the canyon slope in Targay, southern Queensland. 19 18 years later, it was called "Targay". The skull structure has some characteristics of primitive people: the vault is low, the vault bone and molar bone are thick, the palate is large, and the mandible is prominent. Although Targa people are primitive, they already have some characteristics of today's African-Americans: their noses are wide but not high, and their faces are moderate, neither long nor wide. In the 1920s, when the canal was opened from murray river, another skull was excavated in Kohuna, which was similar in type to Targai's skull and had a great degree of fossilization, so it can be dated relatively. The skull of Kohuna people is characterized by heavy bones, prominent jaws, thick eyebrows, long skull, low vault and large molars. This shows that Kohuna people are closer to the Gai era in Bitar, but they still have some characteristics of primitive people. Compared with African-Americans today, Kohuna people have more similarities, such as smaller skulls, short faces, wide noses and protruding chins. The third major archaeological discovery was the skull excavated in Kailuo, a suburb of Melbourne, in 1943, which was called Kailuo people. It is characterized by a large brain cavity (65,438+0,593 cubic centimeters), a large vault, long molars and a small protruding part of the maxilla, which is almost the same as that of African Americans today.

In this way, we can see the development process of African-Americans today: Targa → Kohuna → Kailuo → African-Americans today.

A major breakthrough has been made in the species problem of Australian black ancestors.

Rowe Ward, an Australian historian, pointed out according to anthropological data: "Although the original inhabitants of Australia, that is, aborigines, have brown and black skin, they look like Caucasians in appearance, not like blacks or Mongols. For example, their hair is generally thick, but it is not as slender and vertical as Mongolian hair, nor as curly as black hair, but like European wavy hair; The baby's hair is golden yellow. " According to archaeological data, Professor Abby believes that "primitive Caucasian race" is the early ancestor of black Australians. He pointed out that the "primitive Caucasian race" lived in Central Asia 20,000 years ago, and then spread outward, becoming "Aryans" when it spread westward, becoming Indians, Ceylons and Vedas (also translated as "Vedas") when it spread southward, and becoming Ainu people in Japan when it spread northeast.

Archaeology has confirmed that there are black Australians of the same race in zhina, Malay Peninsula and Indonesia.

Sanoussy Barney, an Indonesian historian, based on the comparative study of the skull fossils of ancient residents excavated in Java, similar skull fossils excavated in Malay Peninsula and Chinaa, Indonesia, and the archaeological data of Australia, concluded that the ancient residents of Chinaa, Malaya and Indonesia "belong to the same species as the ancestors of the original Australian race". According to archaeological data, he also proved that the ancient lady in Sumatra and the Semang people in the Malay Peninsula today are descendants of the ancient residents in Indonesia and Malaya, which shows that there are residents of the same race of Australian blacks in Indonesia and Malaya today, in other words, the Australian blacks, the ancient lady and the Semang people are related by blood.

The solution of this problem has essentially clarified the origin and route of African Americans in Australia. As far as its origin is concerned, it is obviously an island from Indonesia and New Guinea; The route of its origin is undoubtedly: Central Asia → Indian zhina → Malaya → Indonesia and New Guinea → Australian mainland.

Important achievements have been made in the time and manner of coming to the mainland.

There are two views about when the ancestors of black Australians came to Australia. One view is that it appeared 30 thousand to 35 thousand years ago. Manning Clark, a famous Australian historian, said: "Australia, like the United States, probably didn't have a truly different species to immigrate first until the last ice age. The carbon content test confirmed that there were such humans living in the Australian mainland 30,000 years ago. " Stavri Anoos, an American historian, also pointed out: "These aborigines may be descendants of three different nationalities who drifted to Australia by boat 30,000 years ago. At that time, a narrow strait separated the mainland from Indonesia. " Edward also wrote: "Humans have lived in Australia for at least 35,000 years." ③

Another view is that the ancestors of black Australians drifted from an island in Indonesia 8,000 years ago, first landed on the north shore of Australia, and then gradually moved south, especially to the southeast coast, and it took hundreds or even thousands of years to spread all over the continent.

There is a big gap between these two times. Which view is correct?

First of all, it is inferred from the ages of three kinds of skulls excavated in Australia that although the three kinds of skulls are primitive, they all show that they are real people, not primitive apes.

Secondly, the ancestors of black people in mainland Australia came to the mainland by boat, so it can be inferred that it was not 30,000 years ago. It is absolutely impossible for human beings 30 thousand years ago to have the ability to cross the ocean by boat. As for the argument that there was a land bridge between Australia and New Guinea during the last ice age, it is also unconvincing that the ancestors of black people could pass through it. If there is a land bridge, not only people can cross it, but also other animals in the Asian continent can cross it. Why are there no viviparous mammals in Eurasia in Australia, only monotremes and marsupials? Why are there no fierce carnivores in Australia and Asia? This alone can prove that the "land bridge theory" is a speculation.

Third, according to the archaeological data of ancient Australian blacks in recent years. Archaeological data confirmed that the ancestors of black Australians had tools with handles around 5500 BC. In 4850 BC, it has been carved into lines; In 2820 BC, spear point tools were used; Using thin-edged tools in BC 1800; BC 1470, there was a special bone processing. These data irrefutably prove that black Australians just "entered the Neolithic Age" about seven or eight thousand years ago. It was impossible to cross the ocean by boat in the Middle Stone Age, certainly impossible in the Paleolithic Age, and only in the Neolithic Age at most, so it can be asserted that the ancestors of black Australians came to the Australian mainland about 8,000 years ago.

Third, the origin and distribution of black people in mainland Australia

So, how did the ancestors of black people in mainland Australia drift to mainland Australia by boat? Scholars have discussed this issue for a long time and put forward various viewpoints, among which "drifting theory" and "land bridge theory" are two famous viewpoints. But what we think is very convincing is the view of the British scientist Huxley. He pointed out that in the late Quaternary, although there could not be a continuous and complete land bridge between Indonesian islands, Australia and New Guinea, there might be narrow lands (such as palawan island between Borneo and the Philippines) or island belts (such as Maluku Islands) between various island groups. These narrow lands and island belts may be connected into a channel, but this channel is often separated by shallow water or narrow water. In this way, the ancestors of black people can cross by boat one by one, and it is difficult for animals, even viviparous mammals, to cross. Some scholars have also noticed that there are fewer and fewer animals in Indonesia from west to east. The reason is that animals are blocked by water that cuts off the land. From Indonesia, we can think of the reasons why there are no viviparous mammals in Australia, and at the same time, we can judge which way the ancestors of black Australians came to Australia.

The conclusion is that the ancestors of black Australians came to Australia by sea and land from an island in Indonesia and New Guinea at least 8,000 years ago. The main route is the eastern route, that is, from New Guinea through the Torres Strait, while the western route starts from Timor Island.

African-American ancestors first arrived in the northern coastal areas and northwest areas of the Australian mainland. After thousands of years of reproduction, the population has gradually increased. In addition, with the continuous influx of immigrants from Southeast Asia, the competition among tribes for fishing and hunting territories has become increasingly frequent and fierce. As a result, many African-Americans went south to look for new territories, which led to the population flow in ancient Australia for nearly ten thousand years, and the whole Australian continent was gradually occupied by African-Americans. The hot north but not as cool as the south is also an important factor for black people to move south.

Archaeologists have discovered three main routes for black Australians to spread southward: one route, also known as the western route, spreads southward along the west coast from the northwest coastal area and southwest. The second route goes south from the northern region, goes deep into the hinterland of the mainland and goes straight to the southern region. This is the central route. The third route starts from the northeast coastal area, goes south along the east coast, and reaches the southeast area, which is also called the eastern route. Each trunk line is divided into several branches. Among the three trunk lines, the central trunk line is the most important, because this trunk line passes through several big rivers, especially murray river and Darling River, with good climate and product conditions, so there are more blacks in this area.

After tens of thousands of years of reproduction, the black population in mainland Australia has reached 1788, with a total population of 300,000 and more than 500 tribes distributed in various regions of the mainland. According to geographical division, it can be divided into seven tribal regional groups.

The first tribal regional group, that is, the tribes living in the murray river Valley. The second tribal regional group lives in the Darling River basin, including the whole of New South Wales and southern Queensland. The third tribal area is in central and northern Queensland today. In the vast area around Lake El, there is a fourth black tribal regional group, but due to the barren land and products, the population is not as large as the above three areas. The fifth tribal regional group lives in the western desert area and the southwest coastal area, where the land is also poor and the number of aborigines is not bad. Settled in the northwest and western coastal areas is the sixth regional tribal group; The seventh tribal regional group settled in the northern part of the Australian mainland, including the present Kimberly Plateau, Arnhem Land and Cape York Peninsula, which was the earliest area where African-American ancestors arrived.

Fourthly, the origin of Tasmanian blacks.

Anthropologists believe that blacks living in Tasmania are not the same race as blacks living in mainland Australia. Black Tasmanians have hairy curly hair and slightly swollen lips, much like melanesians, especially like New Caledonians. We know that melanesians and New Caledonians belong to the Negro people in Oceania. Anthropologists tell us that the Negro people in Africa and the Negro people in Oceania were formed in a humid tropical climate. As far as the Negro people in Oceania are concerned, they were formed under the conditions of tropical forests in Southeast Asia and Melanesia. According to this, scholars believe that Tasmanians belong to black people in Oceania, and their ancestors originally lived in tropical forests in Southeast Asia and Melanesia. This conclusion is almost universally acknowledged.

However, there are two main views on the route of Tasmanian black ancestors to Tasmania. One view is that Melanesia drifted here on a raft before the blacks in Chinese mainland, or they came here from New Caledonia. On the way, they bypassed the Australian mainland. Most scholars hold this view.

Another view is that they first arrived in the Australian mainland, and then gradually went south, from the southeast end of the mainland through bass strait to the island.

From all kinds of data, the conclusion that the ancestors of Tasmanian blacks arrived in Tasmania from Melanesia or New Caledonia is credible. Many Tasmanians have preserved the same culture as Melanesia, for example, using small benches as sleeping pillows, using single rafts, drilling wood for fire and so on.

At the same time, until today, archaeologists have not found any traces of Tasmanians on the Australian mainland, nor have they found their own kind. All these show that Tasmanians can't go to the mainland first and then to the south.