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{{short description|Set of ethnic groups in Austronesia}}
{{short description|Set of ethnic groups in Southeast Asia and Andaman islands}}
{{About|the ethnic groups|the shrub|Citharexylum berlandieri|the municipality|El Negrito|the bird genus|Lessonia (bird)}}
{{About|the ethnic groups|the shrub|Citharexylum berlandieri|the municipality|El Negrito|the bird genus|Lessonia (bird)}}
{{Distinguish|Pygmy peoples}}
{{Distinguish|Pygmy peoples}}
{{pp-pc|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2020}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group            = Negrito
| group            = Negrito
| image            = Ati_woman_2.jpg
| image            = A LUZON NEGRITO WITH SPEAR.jpg
| caption          =  
| caption          = A Luzon Negrito with spear
| population      =  
| population      =  
| regions          = {{flag|India}}<br/>{{smaller|([[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]])}}<hr/>
| regions          = Isolated geographic regions in [[India]] and [[Maritime Southeast Asia]]
{{flag|Malaysia}}<br/>{{smaller|([[Peninsular Malaysia]])}}<hr/>
| languages        = [[Andamanese languages]], [[Aslian languages]], [[Philippine Negrito languages]]
{{flagcountry|PHI}}<br/>{{smaller|([[Luzon]], [[Palawan]], [[Panay]], [[Negros (Philippines)|Negros]], and [[Mindanao]])}}<hr/>
| religions        = [[Animism]], [[folk religion]], ''[[Anito]]'', [[Christianity]], [[Islam]], [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]]
{{flag|Thailand}}<br/>{{smaller|([[Southern Thailand]])}}
| languages        = [[Andamanese languages]], [[Aslian languages]], [[Nicobarese languages]], [[Philippine Negrito languages]]
| religions        = [[Animism]], [[folk religion]]s
}}
}}


The '''Negrito''' ({{IPAc-en|n|ɪ|ˈ|ɡ|r|iː|t|oʊ}}) are several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of [[Southeast Asia]] and the [[Andaman Islands]]. Their current populations include: the [[Andamanese peoples]] of the Andaman Islands, the [[Semang]] peoples (among them, the [[Batek people]]) of [[Peninsular Malaysia]], the [[Maniq people]] of [[Southern Thailand]], as well as the [[Aeta people|Aeta]] of [[Luzon Island]], [[Ati people|Ati]] and [[Suludnon|Tumandok]] of [[Panay Island]], [[Agta]] of [[Sierra Madre (Philippines)|Sierra Madre]] and [[Mamanwa]] of [[Mindanao Island]] and about 30 other officially recognized [[ethnic groups in the Philippines]].
The term '''''Negrito''''' ({{IPAc-en|n|ɪ|ˈ|ɡ|r|iː|t|oʊ}}; {{lit|little [[black person]]}}) refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of [[Southeast Asia]] and the [[Andaman Islands]]. Populations often described as Negrito include: the [[Andamanese peoples]] (including the [[Great Andamanese]], the [[Onge]], the [[Jarawas (Andaman Islands)|Jarawa]], and the [[Sentinelese]]) of the Andaman Islands, the [[Semang]] peoples (among them, the [[Batek people]]) of [[Peninsular Malaysia]], the [[Maniq people]] of [[Southern Thailand]], as well as the [[Aeta people|Aeta]] of [[Luzon]], the [[Ati people|Ati]] and [[Suludnon|Tumandok]] of [[Panay]], the [[Mamanwa]] of [[Mindanao]], and about 30 other officially recognized [[ethnic groups in the Philippines]].


Based on their physical similarities, Negritos were once considered a single population of related people. Some studies suggest that they include several separate groups, as well as demonstrating that they are not closely related to the [[African Pygmies|Pygmies of Africa]], while more recent studies find evidence for a close genetic relation between the various Negrito groups.<ref name="Basu 1594–1599">{{Cite journal|last1=Basu|first1=Analabha|last2=Sarkar-Roy|first2=Neeta|last3=Majumder|first3=Partha P.|date=2016-02-09|title=Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=113|issue=6|pages=1594–1599|doi=10.1073/pnas.1513197113|issn=0027-8424|pmc=4760789|pmid=26811443|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.1594B}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chaubey|first1=Gyaneshwer|last2=Endicott|first2=Phillip|date=2013-11-27|title=The Andaman Islanders in a Regional Genetic Context: Reexamining the Evidence for an Early Peopling of the Archipelago from South Asia|url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol85/iss1/7|journal=Human Biology|volume=85|issue=1|pages=153–72|issn=0018-7143|doi=10.3378/027.085.0307|pmid=24297224|s2cid=7774927}}</ref> The pre-Neolithic Negrito populations of Southeast Asia were largely replaced by the expansion of Southern East Eurasian populations, beginning about 5,000 years ago.<ref>S. Noerwidi, "Using Dental Metrical Analysis to Determine the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene Population History of Java", in: Philip J. Piper, Hirofumi Matsumura, David Bulbeck (eds.), New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory (2017), [https://books.google.ch/books?id=CDDFDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 p. 92].</ref>
==Etymology==
 
The word ''Negrito,'' the Spanish [[diminutive]] of ''[[negro]]'', is used to mean "little black person." This usage was coined by 16th-century Spanish [[Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery|missionaries]] operating in the Philippines, and was borrowed by other European travellers and colonialists across Austronesia to label various peoples perceived as sharing relatively small physical stature and dark skin.<ref name=Manickham-2009>{{cite book|last=Manickham|first=Sandra Khor|editor=Hägerdal, Hans|title=Responding to the West: Essays on Colonial Domination and Asian Agency|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Onr3-thtL2MC&pg=PA69|year=2009|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-8964-093-2|pages=69–79|chapter=Africans in Asia: The Discourse of 'Negritos' in Early Nineteenth-century Southeast Asia}}</ref> Contemporary usage of an alternative Spanish epithet, ''Negrillos'', also tended to bundle these peoples with the [[pygmy peoples]] of [[Central Africa]] on the basis of perceived similarities in stature and complexion.<ref name=Manickham-2009/> Historically, the label ''Negrito'' has also been used to refer to African pygmies.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Ethnology and ethnography|volume=9|page=851|quote=Second are the large Negrito family, represented in Africa by the dwarf-races of the equatorial forests, the [[Aka (Pygmy tribe)|Akkas]], [[Batwa]]s, [[Wochua]]s and others...}}</ref> The appropriateness of bundling peoples of different [[ethnicity|ethnicities]] by similarities in stature and complexion has been called into question.<ref name=Manickham-2009/>
Historically they engaged in trade with the local population that eventually invaded their lands and were also often subjected to slave raids while also paying tributes to the local Southeast Asian rulers and kingdoms. Some Negrito pygmies from the southern forests were enslaved and exploited from AD 724 until modern times.<ref>[https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=y0ExAQAAIAAJ&q=Srivijaya+enslaved+negrito&dq=Srivijaya+enslaved+negrito&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjOo43O-JvkAhWLTcAKHZI5AdEQ6AEIPTAD Archives of the Chinese Art Society of America]</ref> While some have lived in isolation others have become assimilated with the general local population.


==Etymology==
== Population ==
The word ''Negrito'' is the Spanish [[diminutive]] of ''[[negro]]'', used to mean "little black person." This usage was coined by 16th-century Spanish [[Catholic Church and the Age of Discovery|missionaries]] operating in the Philippines, and was borrowed by other European travellers and colonialists across Austronesia to label various peoples perceived as sharing relatively small physical stature and dark skin.<ref name=Manickham-2009>{{cite book|last=Manickham|first=Sandra Khor|editor=Hägerdal, Hans|title=Responding to the West: Essays on Colonial Domination and Asian Agency|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Onr3-thtL2MC&pg=PA69|year=2009|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-8964-093-2|pages=69–79|chapter=Africans in Asia: The Discourse of 'Negritos' in Early Nineteenth-century Southeast Asia}}</ref> Contemporary usage of an alternative Spanish epithet, ''Negrillos'', also tended to bundle these peoples with the [[pygmy peoples]] of [[Central Africa]], based on perceived similarities in stature and complexion.<ref name=Manickham-2009/> (Historically, the label ''Negrito'' has also been used to refer to African pygmies.)<ref>See, for example: ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition, 1910–1911: "Second are the large Negrito family, represented in Africa by the dwarf-races of the equatorial forests, the [[Aka (Pygmy tribe)|Akkas]], [[Batwa]]s, [[Wochua]]s and others..." (p. 851)</ref> The appropriateness of using the label "Negrito" to bundle peoples of different [[ethnicity|ethnicities]] based on similarities in stature and complexion has been challenged.<ref name=Manickham-2009/>
There are over 100,000 Negritos in the Philippines. In 2010, there were 50,236 Aeta people in the Philippines.<ref name="pop">{{cite web |url=https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/PHIILIPPINES_FINAL%20PDF.pdf |title=2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A: Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables) - Philippines |publisher=Philippine Statistics Authority |access-date=May 19, 2020 |archive-date=June 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607120654/https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/PHIILIPPINES_FINAL%20PDF.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> There were 55,473 Ati people (2020 census).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://psa.gov.ph/sites/default/files/attachments/ird/pressrelease/Ethnicity_Statistical%20Table.xlsx|title=Ethnicity in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing)|publisher=Philippine Statistics Authority|access-date=6 July 2023}}</ref> Officially, Malaysia had approximately 4,800 Negrito (Semangs).<ref name="Endicott">{{cite book|author=Kirk Endicott|title=Malaysia's Original People: Past, Present and Future of the Orang Asli. Introduction|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286937916|publisher=NUS Press, National University of Singapore Press. 2016, pp. 1-38|isbn=978-9971-69-861-4|access-date=2019-01-12|date=27 November 2015}} {{in lang|en}}</ref> This number increases if some of the populations or individual groups among [[Orang Asli]] who have either assimilated Negrito population or have admixed origins are included. According to the 2006 census, the number of Orang Asli was 141,230 <ref>{{cite web|author=|title=JAKOA Program|url=http://www.jakoa.gov.my/en/orang-asli/program-jakoa/|publisher=Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA)|access-date=2021-03-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923134202/http://www.jakoa.gov.my/en/orang-asli/program-jakoa/|archive-date=2017-09-23}}</ref>
[[File:Washing of clothes traditionally.JPG|thumb|Aeta lady washing clothes in Iriga City.]]
Andamanese of India with just c. over 500. Thailand Negrito Maniq is estimated 300, divided into several clans.<ref name="TheMani">{{cite web|last1=Thonghom|last2=Weber|first2=George|title=36. The Negrito of Thailand; The Mani|url=http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter36/text36.htm|website=Andaman.org|access-date=23 December 2017|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520173144/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter36/text36.htm|archive-date=20 May 2013}}</ref><ref name=":0">''Primal Survivor: Season 5, episode 1''</ref> Other puts it at 382<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2644750/calls-for-maniq-tribe-to-get-their-own-patch | title=Calls for Maniq tribe to get their own patch | newspaper=Bangkok Post | date=11 September 2023 }}</ref> or less than 500.<ref>2016 https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1139777/no-common-ground</ref>
Many online dictionaries give the plural in English as either "Negritos" or "Negritoes," without preference. The plural in Spanish is "Negritos."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Negrito|title=Definition of NEGRITO|website=www.merriam-webster.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Negrito|title=Negrito|via=The Free Dictionary}}</ref>


== Culture ==
== Culture ==
Most Negrito groups lived as [[hunter-gatherer]]s, while some also used [[agriculture]]. Today most Negrito tribes live assimilated to the majority population of their homeland. Discrimination and [[poverty]] are often problems.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rutufoundation.org/hunting-gathering-in-the-tropical-rainforest-something-for-children/|title=The {{sic|succ|esful|nolink=y}} revival of Negrito culture in the Philippines|date=2015-05-06|website=Rutu Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref>
[[File:Taman Negara (30509997143).jpg|thumb|Batek family in Malaysia.]]
Most groups designated as "Negrito" lived as [[hunter-gatherer]]s, while some also used [[agriculture]], such as plant harvesting. Today most live assimilated to the majority population of their respective homeland. Discrimination and [[poverty]] are often problems, caused either by their lower social position, their hunter-gatherer lifestyles, or both.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.rutufoundation.org/hunting-gathering-in-the-tropical-rainforest-something-for-children/|title=The {{sic|succ|esful|nolink=y}} revival of Negrito culture in the Philippines|date=2015-05-06|website=Rutu Foundation|language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-19}}</ref>


==Origins==
==Origins==
[[File:Great Andamanese couple.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Great Andamanese]] couple in the [[Andaman Islands]], [[British Raj|India]] (1876)]]
{{See also|Genetic history of East Asians|Peopling of Southeast Asia}}
 
[[File:PCA of Orang Asli and Andamanese with world populations in HGDP.png|thumb|Position of various ethnic groups considered "Negrito". Negritos and Oceanians are most closely related to East Asians followed by Native Americans.]]
=== Haplogroups ===
[[File:A Negrito from Negros Island (c. 1900, Philippines).jpg|thumb|left|A Negrito man with a hunting bow (c. 1900) from [[Negros Island]], [[First Philippine Republic|Philippines]]]]
The main paternal haplogroup of the Negritos is [[Haplogroup K2b (Y-DNA)|K2b]] in the form of its rare primary clades [[Haplogroup K2b1 (Y-DNA)|K2b1*]] and [[Haplogroup P (Y-DNA)|P*]] (a.k.a. K2b2* or P-P295*). Most Aeta males (60%) carry [[Haplogroup K2b1 (Y-DNA)|K-P397]] (K2b1), which is otherwise uncommon in the Philippines and is strongly associated with the indigenous peoples of [[Melanesia]] and [[Micronesia]]. Basal P* is rare outside the Aeta and some other groups within Maritime Southeast Asia.<ref name="isogg2016">[http://isogg.org/tree/ISOGG_HapgrpP.html ISOGG, 2016, ''Y-DNA Haplogroup P and its Subclades – 2016''] (20 June 2016).</ref> Some Negrito populations are Haplogroup D-M174*, a branch of [[Haplogroup D-M174|D-M174]] among Andaman Islanders, as well as [[Haplogroup O-P31]] which is also common among the now [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic-speaking]] Negrito peoples, such as the [[Maniq]] and the [[Semang]] in Malaysia.<ref>Craniodental Affinities of Southeast Asia's "Negritos" and the Concordance with Their Genetic Affinities by David Bulbeck 2013</ref>
 
The [[Onge people|Onge]] and all the Adamanan Islanders belong strictly to the [[Haplogroup M (mtDNA)|mitochondrial Haplogroup M]] (a descendant of Africa's [[Haplogroup L3 (mtDNA)|haplogroup L3]], typically found in Africa). Haplogroup M It is also the predominant marker of other Negrito tribes from Thailand and Malaysia, as well as [[Aboriginal Australians]] and [[Papuans]].<ref name="thangaraj2002">{{Citation | title=Genetic Affinities of the Andaman Islanders, a Vanishing Human Population | author=Kumarasamy Thangaraj, [[Lalji Singh]], Alla G. Reddy, V. Raghavendra Rao, Subhash C. Sehgal, Peter A. Underhill, Melanie Pierson, Ian G. Frame, and Erika Hagelberg | year=2002 | access-date=2008-11-16 | url=http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/CB_2002_p1-18.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029071336/http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/CB_2002_p1-18.pdf | archive-date=29 October 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref>  and significant in African population of Somalis, Oromo, Tuaregs.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Non|first1=Amy|title=ANALYSES OF GENETIC DATA WITHIN AN INTERDISCIPLINARY FRAMEWORK TO INVESTIGATE RECENT HUMAN EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND COMPLEX DISEASE|url=http://etd.fcla.edu/UF/UFE0041981/non_a.pdf|publisher=University of Florida|access-date=12 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Holden|title=MtDNA variation in North, East, and Central African populations gives clues to a possible back-migration from the Middle East|url=http://konig.la.utk.edu/AJPA_Suppl_40_web.htm|publisher=American Association of Physical Anthropologists|access-date=13 April 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303212239/http://konig.la.utk.edu/AJPA_Suppl_40_web.htm|archive-date=3 March 2016}}</ref><ref name="Pereira2010">{{cite journal|author1=Luísa Pereira |author2=Viktor Černý |author3=María Cerezo |author4=Nuno M Silva |author5=Martin Hájek |author6=Alžběta Vašíková |author7=Martina Kujanová |author8=Radim Brdička |author9=Antonio Salas |title=Linking the sub-Saharan and West Eurasian gene pools: maternal and paternal heritage of the Tuareg nomads from the African Sahel|journal=European Journal of Human Genetics|date=17 March 2010|volume=18|issue=8 |pages=915–923|doi=10.1038/ejhg.2010.21|pmid=20234393 |pmc=2987384}}</ref> Analysis of mtDNA, which is inherited exclusively by maternal descent, confirms the above results. All Onge belong to mDNA M.<ref name="endicott2003">{{Citation | title=The Genetic Origins of the Andaman Islanders | author1=M. Phillip Endicott | author2=Thomas P. Gilbert | author3=Chris Stringer | author4=Carles Lalueza-Fox | author5=Eske Willerslev | author6=Anders J. Hansen | author7=Alan Cooper | year=2003 | journal=American Journal of Human Genetics | volume=72 | issue=1 | pages=178–184 | pmid=12478481 | doi=10.1086/345487 | pmc=378623 }}</ref><ref name="Reich">{{cite journal|last=Reich|first=David|author2=Kumarasamy Thangaraj |author3=Nick Patterson |author4=Alkes L. Price |author5=Lalji Singh |title=Reconstructing Indian Population History|journal=Nature|volume=461|issue=7263|pages=489–494|doi=10.1038/nature08365|date=24 September 2009|pmid=19779445|pmc=2842210|bibcode=2009Natur.461..489R}}</ref> M is the most common mtDNA haplogroup in Asia,<ref name="Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup K is a">{{cite journal | last1 = Ghezzi | display-authors = etal | year = 2005 | title = Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup K is associated with a lower risk of Parkinson's disease in Italians | journal = European Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 13 | issue = 6| pages = 748–752 | doi=10.1038/sj.ejhg.5201425 | pmid=15827561| doi-access = free }}</ref> A 2009 study by the [[Anthropological Survey of India]] and the [[Texas Biomedical Research Institute]] identified seven genomes from 26 isolated ethnic groups from the Indian mainland, such as the [[Baiga tribe]], which share "two synonymous polymorphisms with the [[Haplogroup M (mtDNA)|M42 haplogroup]], which is specific to [[Indigenous Australians|Australian Aborigines]]". These were specific [[Human mitochondrial genetics|mtDNA]] mutations that are shared exclusively by Australian aborigines and these Indian tribes, and no other known human groupings.<ref name="bmc2009ksg">{{Citation|author1=Satish Kumar|title=Reconstructing Indian-Australian phylogenetic link|date=22 July 2009|journal=BMC Evolutionary Biology|volume=9|page=173|doi=10.1186/1471-2148-9-173|pmc=2720955|pmid=19624810|quote=In our completely sequenced 966-mitochondrial genomes from 26 relic tribes of India, we have identified seven genomes, which share two synonymous polymorphisms with the M42 haplogroup, which is specific to Australian Aborigines&nbsp;... direct genetic evidence of an early colonization of Australia through south Asia|author2=Rajasekhara Reddy Ravuri|author3=Padmaja Koneru|author4=BP Urade|author5=BN Sarkar|author6=A Chandrasekar|author7=VR Rao}}</ref> Bulbeck (2013) shows the Andamanese maternal mtDNA is entirely [[Haplogroup M (mtDNA)|mitochondrial Haplogroup M]].<ref name="Bulbeck" /><ref name="Mitochondrial DNA haplogroup K is a"/> mtDNA M is distributed all over [[Asia]], where it represents 60% of all maternal lineages.<ref name="petraglia2007">{{Citation | title=The evolution and history of human populations in South Asia |author1=Michael D. Petraglia |author2=Bridget Allchin | publisher=Springer | year=2007 | isbn=978-1-4020-5561-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qm9GfjNlnRwC | quote=... As haplogroup M, except for the African sub-clade M1, is not notably present in regions west of the Indian subcontinent, while it covers the majority of Indian mtDNA variation ...}}</ref>
 
=== Origin and ethnic relations ===
A study of [[human blood group systems]] and proteins in the 1950s suggested that the [[Andamanese peoples]] were more closely related to Oceanic peoples than African pygmy peoples. Genetic studies on Philippine Negritos, based on polymorphic blood enzymes and antigens, showed that they were similar to their surrounding populations.<ref name="Thangaraj2002" />
 
Negrito peoples may descend from the first settlers of South and Southeast Asia. Despite being isolated, the different peoples do share [[population genetics|genetic similarities]] with their neighboring populations.<ref name="Thangaraj2002" /><ref name="Stock-2013">{{cite journal|last=Stock|first=JT|year=2013|title=The skeletal phenotype of "negritos" from the Andaman Islands and Philippines relative to global variation among hunter-gatherers|url=http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2052&context=humbiol|journal=[[Human Biology (journal)|Human Biology]]|volume=85|issue=1–3|pages=67–94|doi=10.3378/027.085.0304|pmid=24297221|s2cid=32964023}}</ref> They also show relevant [[phenotypic]] (anatomic) variations which require explanation.<ref name="Stock-2013" />
 
[[File:A young Onge mother with her baby.jpg|thumb|upright|A young [[Onge]] mother with her baby ([[Andaman Islands]], [[British Raj|India]], 1905)]]
[[File:A young Onge mother with her baby.jpg|thumb|upright|A young [[Onge]] mother with her baby ([[Andaman Islands]], [[British Raj|India]], 1905)]]
This has often been interpreted to the effect that they are remnants of the original expansion from Africa some 70,000 years ago. Studies in osteology, cranial shape and dental morphology have connected the Semang to Australoid populations, while connecting the Andamanese to Africans in craniometry and to South Asians in dental morphology, and Philippine Negritos to Southeast Asians. A possible conclusion of this is that the dispersal of mitochondrial haplogroup B4a1a is connected to the distinction between Philippine and other Negritos.<ref name="Bulbeck">{{cite journal|last=Bulbeck|first=David|title=Craniodental Affinities of Southeast Asia's "Negritos" and the Concordance with Their Genetic Affinities|journal=Human Biology|date=November 2013|volume=85|issue=1|url=http://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2053&context=humbiol|doi=10.3378/027.085.0305|pages=95–134|pmid=24297222|s2cid=19981437}}</ref> However, another study suggests that the Onge (indigenous to Little Andaman) are more closely related to Southeast Asian Negritos, Melanesians, and Southeast Asians than they are to present-day South Asians, and that the Great Andamanese (of the northern Andamans, as opposed to the Onge or other Andamanese groups) "appear to have received a degree of relatively recent admixture from adjacent regional populations but also share a significant degree of genetic ancestry with Malaysian negrito groups".<ref name="Chaubey_and_Endicott">{{Cite journal|last1=Chaubey|first1=Gyaneshwer|last2=Endicott|first2=Phillip|date=2013-02-01|title=The Andaman Islanders in a regional genetic context: reexamining the evidence for an early peopling of the archipelago from South Asia|journal=Human Biology|volume=85|issue=1–3|pages=153–172|doi=10.3378/027.085.0307|issn=1534-6617|pmid=24297224|s2cid=7774927|url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2055&context=humbiol}}</ref>
Based on perceived physical similarities, Negritos were once considered a single population of closely related people. However, genetic studies suggest that they consist of several separate groups descended from the same ancient [[Genetic history of East Asians|East Eurasian]] meta-population that gave rise to modern [[Genetic history of East Asians|East Asian peoples]] and [[Oceania|Oceanian peoples]], as well as displaying genetic heterogeneity. The Negritos form the indigenous population of Southeast Asia, but were largely absorbed by [[Austroasiatic languages|Austroasiatic-]] and [[Austronesian languages|Austronesian-speaking]] groups who migrated from southern East Asia into Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia with the [[Neolithic]] expansion. The remainders form minority groups in geographically isolated regions.<ref>{{Cite book |author=Sofwan Noerwidi |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CDDFDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 |title=New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory |date=2017 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=978-1-76046-095-2 |editor-last=Piper |editor-first=Philip J. |location=Acton, Australian Capital Territory |page=92 |language=en |chapter=Using Dental Metrical Analysis to Determine the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene Population History of Java |editor-last2=Matsumura |editor-first2=Hirofumi |editor-last3=Bulbeck |editor-first3=David}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chaubey |first1=Gyaneshwer |last2=Endicott |first2=Phillip |title=The Andaman Islanders in a Regional Genetic Context: Reexamining the Evidence for an Early Peopling of the Archipelago from South Asia |journal=Human Biology |date=June 2013 |volume=85 |issue=1–3 |pages=153–172 |doi=10.3378/027.085.0307 |pmid=24297224 |s2cid=7774927 |url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol85/iss1/7 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name="Basu 1594–1599">{{Cite journal|last1=Basu|first1=Analabha|last2=Sarkar-Roy|first2=Neeta|last3=Majumder|first3=Partha P.|date=2016|title=Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=113|issue=6|pages=1594–1599|doi=10.1073/pnas.1513197113|pmc=4760789|pmid=26811443|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.1594B|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name="Larena">{{Cite journal|last1=Larena|first1=Maximilian|last2=Sanchez-Quinto|first2=Federico|last3=Sjödin|first3=Per|last4=McKenna|first4=James|last5=Ebeo|first5=Carlo|last6=Reyes|first6=Rebecca|last7=Casel|first7=Ophelia|last8=Huang|first8=Jin-Yuan|last9=Hagada|first9=Kim Pullupul|last10=Guilay|first10=Dennis|last11=Reyes|first11=Jennelyn|date=2021|title=Multiple migrations to the Philippines during the last 50,000 years|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=118|issue=13|at=e2026132118|doi=10.1073/pnas.2026132118|pmc=8020671|pmid=33753512|bibcode=2021PNAS..11826132L |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Carlhoff 543–547">{{Cite journal|last1=Carlhoff|first1=Selina|last2=Duli|first2=Akin|last3=Nägele|first3=Kathrin|last4=Nur|first4=Muhammad|last5=Skov|first5=Laurits|last6=Sumantri|first6=Iwan|last7=Oktaviana|first7=Adhi Agus|last8=Hakim|first8=Budianto|last9=Burhan|first9=Basran|last10=Syahdar|first10=Fardi Ali|last11=McGahan|first11=David P.|date=2021|title=Genome of a middle Holocene hunter-gatherer from Wallacea|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=596|issue=7873|pages=543–547|doi=10.1038/s41586-021-03823-6| pmc=8387238 |pmid=34433944|bibcode=2021Natur.596..543C|hdl=10072/407535|hdl-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Tagore|first1=Debashree|last2=Aghakhanian|first2=Farhang|last3=Naidu|first3=Rakesh|last4=Phipps|first4=Maude E.|last5=Basu|first5=Analabha|date=2021|title=Insights into the demographic history of Asia from common ancestry and admixture in the genomic landscape of present-day Austroasiatic speakers|journal=BMC Biology|volume=19|issue=1|page=61|doi=10.1186/s12915-021-00981-x|pmc=8008685|pmid=33781248 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yang |first1=Melinda A. |title=A genetic history of migration, diversification, and admixture in Asia |journal=Human Population Genetics and Genomics |date=6 January 2022 |pages=1–32 |doi=10.47248/hpgg2202010001 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yew |first1=Chee-Wei |last2=Lu |first2=Dongsheng |last3=Deng |first3=Lian |last4=Wong |first4=Lai-Ping |last5=Ong |first5=Rick Twee-Hee |last6=Lu |first6=Yan |last7=Wang |first7=Xiaoji |last8=Yunus |first8=Yushimah |last9=Aghakhanian |first9=Farhang |last10=Mokhtar |first10=Siti Shuhada |last11=Hoque |first11=Mohammad Zahirul |last12=Voo |first12=Christopher Lok-Yung |last13=Abdul Rahman |first13=Thuhairah |last14=Bhak |first14=Jong |last15=Phipps |first15=Maude E. |last16=Xu |first16=Shuhua |last17=Teo |first17=Yik-Ying |last18=Kumar |first18=Subbiah Vijay |last19=Hoh |first19=Boon-Peng |title=Genomic structure of the native inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia and North Borneo suggests complex human population history in Southeast Asia |journal=Human Genetics |date=February 2018 |volume=137 |issue=2 |pages=161–173 |doi=10.1007/s00439-018-1869-0 |pmid=29383489 |s2cid=253969988 |quote=The analysis of time of divergence suggested that ancestors of Negrito were the earliest settlers in the Malay Peninsula, whom first separated from the Papuans ~ 50-33 thousand years ago (kya), followed by East Asian (~ 40-15 kya)...}}</ref>
 
[[File:PCA of Orang Asli and Andamanese with world populations in HGDP.png|thumb|left|Principal Component analysis of Australo-Melanesians with world populations (Aghakhanian et al. 2015)]]A recent genetic study found that unlike other early groups in [[Oceania]], Andamanese Negritos lack [[Denisovan#Interbreeding|Denisovan hominin admixture]] in their DNA. Denisovan ancestry is found among indigenous Melanesian and Aboriginal Australian populations at between 4–6%.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Reich | display-authors = etal  | year = 2011 | title = Denisova Admixture and the First Modern Human Dispersals into Southeast Asia and Oceania | journal = The American Journal of Human Genetics | volume = 89| issue = 4| pages = 516–528| doi = 10.1016/j.ajhg.2011.09.005 | pmid = 21944045 | pmc=3188841}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|quote=About 3% to 5% of the DNA of people from Melanesia (islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean), Australia and New Guinea as well as aboriginal people from the Philippines comes from the Denisovans.|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/09/health/oldest-human-dna/|title=Oldest human DNA found in Spain – Elizabeth Landau's interview of Svante Paabo|publisher=CNN|date=2013-12-09}}</ref>
 
Some studies have suggested that each group should be considered separately, as the genetic evidence refutes the notion of a specific shared ancestry between the "Negrito" groups of the Andaman Islands, the Malay Peninsula, and the Philippines.<ref>{{citation |url=http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/msl124v1.pdf |title=Phylogeography and Ethnogenesis of Aboriginal Southeast Asians |author1=Catherine Hill |author2=Pedro Soares |author3=Maru Mormina |author4=Vincent Macaulay |author5=William Meehan |author6=James Blackburn |author7=Douglas Clarke |author8=Joseph Maripa Raja |author9=Patimah Ismail |author10=David Bulbeck |author11=Stephen Oppenheimer |author12=Martin Richards |year=2006 |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |doi=10.1093/molbev/msl124 |pmid=16982817 |volume=23 |issue=12 |pages=2480–91 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080409132033/http://mbe.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/reprint/msl124v1.pdf |archive-date=9 April 2008|doi-access=free }}</ref> Indeed, this sentiment is echoed in a more recent work from 2013 which concludes that "at the current level of genetic resolution&nbsp;... there is no evidence of a single ancestral population for the different groups traditionally defined as 'negritos'.<ref name="Chaubey_and_Endicott" />
 
Recent studies, concerning the population history of Southeast Asia, suggest that most modern Negrito populations in Southeast Asia show a rather strong Eastern Eurasian admixture (Austronesian and Austroasiatic), ranging between 30% to 50% of their ancestry.<ref>Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia - Lipson et al. (https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2014/05/27/005603.full.pdf)</ref>


Chaubey et al. 2013 notes that the Andamanese people are closely related to other Negrito populations as well as [[Melanesians]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Chaubey, Gyaneshwer|last2=Endicott, Phillip|date=2013|title=The Andaman Islanders in a Regional Genetic Context: Reexamining the Evidence for an Early Peopling of the Archipelago from South Asia|url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol85/iss1/7|journal=Human Biology|language=en|volume=85|issue=1|pages=153–72|issn=0018-7143|doi=10.3378/027.085.0307|pmid=24297224|s2cid=7774927}}</ref>
Genetic studies provided mixed evidence of modern Negrito populations, with populations considered Negrito showing diverse admixtures. Although a genetic affinity between Andaman Islanders, Malaysian and Filipino Negritos was detected by some authors, several studies indicate that Negrito populations are closer to their neighboring non-Negrito communities in their paternal heritage and autosomal DNA on average.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aghakhanian |first1=Farhang |last2=Yunus |first2=Yushima |last3=Naidu |first3=Rakesh |last4=Jinam |first4=Timothy |last5=Manica |first5=Andrea |last6=Hoh |first6=Boon Peng |last7=Phipps |first7=Maude E. |display-authors=2 |title=Unravelling the Genetic History of Negritos and Indigenous Populations of Southeast Asia |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |date=14 April 2015 |volume=7 |issue=5 |pages=1206–1215 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evv065 |pmid=25877615 |pmc=4453060 |issn=1759-6653}}{{Creative Commons text attribution notice|cc=by4|from this source=yes}}</ref><ref>Endicott et al. 2003; Thangaraj et al. 2005; Wang et al. 2011, Y chromosome (Delfin et al. 2011; Scholes et al. 2011), and autosomal (HUGO Pan-Asia SNP Consortium 2009) studies indicate that Negrito populations are closer to their neighboring non-Negrito communities.</ref> Most modern groups considered Negrito possess significant admixture from Austronesian or Austroasiatic sources, with Negrito groups in the Philippines  found to have between 30 and 50% Austronesian ancestry.<ref name="Bellwood20062">{{cite book |last1=Bellwood |first1=Peter |url=https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/comparative-austronesian-series/austronesians |title=The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives |last2=Fox |first2=James J. |last3=Tryon |first3=Darrell |date=2006 |publisher=Australian National University Press |isbn=978-1-920942-85-4 |access-date=23 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200402234524/https://press.anu.edu.au/publications/series/comparative-austronesian-series/austronesians |archive-date=2 April 2020 |url-status=live |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref><ref name="Lipson20142">{{cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Lipson M, Loh PR, Patterson N, Moorjani P, Ko YC, Stoneking M, Berger B, Reich D |date=August 2014 |title=Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia |url=https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2014/05/27/005603.full.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Nature Communications |volume=5 |issue=1 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.4689L |doi=10.1038/ncomms5689 |pmc=4143916 |pmid=25137359 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121232530/https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2014/05/27/005603.full.pdf |archive-date=21 January 2019 |access-date=21 January 2019 |article-number=4689}}</ref><ref name="Jinam20172">{{cite journal |display-authors=6 |vauthors=Jinam TA, Phipps ME, Aghakhanian F, Majumder PP, Datar F, Stoneking M, Sawai H, Nishida N, Tokunaga K, Kawamura S, Omoto K, Saitou N |date=August 2017 |title=Discerning the Origins of the Negritos, First Sundaland People: Deep Divergence and Archaic Admixture |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=2013–2022 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evx118 |pmc=5597900 |pmid=28854687 |s2cid=34661604}}</ref>


According to Basu et al. (2016), Andamanese and other Negrito populations are closely related and share also partial relation to [[Indigenous people of New Guinea]].<ref name="Basu 1594–1599"/>
The [[Semang]] and [[Maniq people|Maniq]] in the interior of the Malay Peninsula share genetic affinities with ancient [[Hoabinhian]] hunter-gatherers, while also possessing ~35% East Asian related ancestry, likely brought about by recent admixture with surrounding agriculturalist communities in the region, according to the authors of a 2022 genetic study.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Göllner |first1=Tobias |last2=Larena |first2=Maximilian |last3=Kutanan |first3=Wibhu |last4=Lukas |first4=Helmut |last5=Fieder |first5=Martin |last6=Schaschl |first6=Helmut |year=2022 |title=Unveiling the Genetic History of the Maniq, a Primary Hunter-Gatherer Society |journal=Genome Biology and Evolution |volume=14 |issue=4 |doi=10.1093/gbe/evac021 |pmc=9005329 |pmid=35143674}}</ref>


===Physical anthropology===
It has been found that the physical and morphological phenotypes of Negritos, such as short stature, a broad and snub nose, [[kinky hair]] and dark skin, "''are shaped by novel mechanisms for adaptation to tropical rainforests''" through [[convergent evolution]] and [[Positive Selection|positive selection]], rather than a remnant of a shared common ancestor, as suggested previously by some researchers.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stock |first1=Jay T. |title=The Skeletal Phenotype of 'Negritos' from the Andaman Islands and Philippines Relative to Global Variation among Hunter-Gatherers |journal=Human Biology |date=June 2013 |volume=85 |issue=1–3 |pages=67–94 |doi=10.3378/027.085.0304 |pmid=24297221 |s2cid=32964023 |url=https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humbiol/vol85/iss1/4 |quote=Although general similarities in size and proportions remain between the Andamanese and Aeta, differences in humero-femoral indices and arm length between these groups and the Efé demonstrate that there is not a generic 'pygmy' phenotype. Our interpretations of negrito origins and adaptation must account for this phenotypic variation.|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhang |first1=Xiaoming |last2=Liu |first2=Qi |last3=Zhang |first3=Hui |last4=Zhao |first4=Shilei |last5=Huang |first5=Jiahui |last6=Sovannary |first6=Tuot |last7=Bunnath |first7=Long |last8=Aun |first8=Hong Seang |last9=Samnom |first9=Ham |last10=Su |first10=Bing |last11=Chen |first11=Hua |title=The distinct morphological phenotypes of Southeast Asian aborigines are shaped by novel mechanisms for adaptation to tropical rainforests |journal=National Science Review |date=31 March 2022 |volume=9 |issue=3 |article-number=nwab072 |doi=10.1093/nsr/nwab072 |pmid=35371514 |pmc=8970429 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Deng |first1=Lian |last2=Pan |first2=Yuwen |last3=Wang |first3=Yinan |last4=Chen |first4=Hao |last5=Yuan |first5=Kai |last6=Chen |first6=Sihan |last7=Lu |first7=Dongsheng |last8=Lu |first8=Yan |last9=Mokhtar |first9=Siti Shuhada |last10=Rahman |first10=Thuhairah Abdul |last11=Hoh |first11=Boon-Peng |last12=Xu |first12=Shuhua |title=Genetic Connections and Convergent Evolution of Tropical Indigenous Peoples in Asia |journal=Molecular Biology and Evolution |date=3 February 2022 |volume=39 |issue=2 |article-number=msab361 |doi=10.1093/molbev/msab361 |pmid=34940850 |pmc=8826522 |quote=We hypothesize that phenotypic convergence of the dark pigmentation in TIAs could have resulted from parallel (e.g., DDB1/DAK) or genetic convergence driven by admixture (e.g., MTHFD1 and RAD18), new mutations (e.g., STK11), or notably purifying selection (e.g., MC1R).}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Endicott |first1=Phillip |last2=Gilbert |first2=M. Thomas P. |last3=Stringer |first3=Chris |last4=Lalueza-Fox |first4=Carles |last5=Willerslev |first5=Eske |last6=Hansen |first6=Anders J. |last7=Cooper |first7=Alan |title=The Genetic Origins of the Andaman Islanders |journal=The American Journal of Human Genetics |date=January 2003 |volume=72 |issue=1 |pages=178–184 |doi=10.1086/345487 |pmid=12478481 |pmc=378623 |quote=D-loop and protein-coding data reveal that phenotypic similarities with African pygmoid groups are convergent.}}</ref>
[[File:Ati woman.jpg|thumb|An [[Ati (tribe)|Ati]] woman of [[Kalibo]], Philippines in 2006]]


Based on superficial similarities of a number of physical features – such as short stature, dark skin, scant body hair, and occasional [[steatopygia]] (large, curvaceous buttocks and thighs) – some scholars{{who|date=January 2021}} suggested a common origin for the Negrito and the [[African Pygmies|Pygmies]] of Central Africa. The claim that the [[Andamanese]] more closely resemble African pygmies than other Austronesian populations in their cranial morphology in a study of 1973 added some weight to this theory, before genetic studies pointed to a closer relationship with their neighbours.<ref name="Thangaraj2002">{{citation|first=Kumarasamy|last=Thangaraj|title=Genetic Affinities of the Andaman Islanders, a Vanishing Human Population|url=http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/CB_2002_p1-18.pdf|doi=10.1016/S0960-9822(02)01336-2|pmid=12546781|journal=Current Biology|volume=13|issue=2|pages=86–93|date=21 January 2003|s2cid=12155496|display-authors=etal|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081029071336/http://hpgl.stanford.edu/publications/CB_2002_p1-18.pdf|archive-date=29 October 2008|doi-access=free}}</ref>
A Negrito-like population was most likely also present in [[Taiwan]] before the Neolithic expansion and must have persisted into historical times, as suggested by evidence from morphological features of human skeletal remains dating from around 6,000 years ago resembling Negritos (especially Aetas in northern Luzon), and further corroborated by Chinese reports from the [[Qing dynasty|Qing period rule of Taiwan]] (1684 to 1895) and from tales of [[Taiwanese indigenous peoples]] about people with "dark skin, short-and-small body stature, frizzy hair, and occupation in forested mountains or remote caves".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hung |first1=Hsiao-chun |last2=Matsumura |first2=Hirofumi |last3=Nguyen |first3=Lan Cuong |last4=Hanihara |first4=Tsunehiko |last5=Huang |first5=Shih-Chiang |last6=Carson |first6=Mike T. |title=Negritos in Taiwan and the wider prehistory of Southeast Asia: new discovery from the Xiaoma Caves |journal=World Archaeology |date=4 October 2022 |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=207–228 |doi=10.1080/00438243.2022.2121315 |s2cid=252723056 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
 
Multiple studies also show that Negritos share a closer cranial affinity with [[Aboriginal Australians]] and [[Melanesians]].<ref name="WH_Getting_Here">William Howells (1993). [https://books.google.com/books?id=HLFzywF8OFsC&pg=PA222 ''Getting Here: The Story of Human Evolution'']. Compass Press.</ref><ref>{{citation|title=Races of Homo sapiens: if not in the southwest Pacific, then nowhere|author1=David Bulbeck |author2=Pathmanathan Raghavan |author3=Daniel Rayner |journal=World Archaeology|volume=38|issue=1|pages=109–132|issn=0043-8243|doi=10.1080/00438240600564987|year=2006|jstor=40023598|citeseerx = 10.1.1.534.3176|s2cid=84991420 }}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Mbabaram people]]
* {{annotated link|Australo-Melanesian}}
* [[Pygmy peoples]]
* {{annotated link|Mbabaram people}}
* [[Aboriginal Tasmanians]]
* {{annotated link|Melanesians}}
* [[Australo-Melanesian]]
* {{annotated link|Philippine Negrito languages}}
 
* {{annotated link|Pygmy peoples}}
==Notes==
* {{EB1911|wstitle=Negritos}}


===References===
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* Evans, Ivor Hugh Norman. ''The Negritos of Malaya''. Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press, 1937.
* Evans, Ivor Hugh Norman. ''The Negritos of Malaya''. Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press, 1937.
* Benjamin, Geoffrey. 2013. 'Why have the Peninsular "Negritos" remained distinct?’ ''Human Biology'' 85: 445–484. [ISSN 0018-7143 (print), 1534-6617 (online)]
* {{cite journal |last1=Benjamin |first1=Geoffrey |title=Why Have the Peninsular 'Negritos' Remained Distinct? |journal=Human Biology |date=June 2013 |volume=85 |issue=1–3 |pages=445–484 |doi=10.3378/027.085.0321 |pmid=24297237 |hdl=10356/106539 |s2cid=9918641 |hdl-access=free }}
* Garvan, John M., and Hermann Hochegger. ''The Negritos of the Philippines''. Wiener Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik, Bd. 14. Horn: F. Berger, 1964.
* Garvan, John M., and Hermann Hochegger. ''The Negritos of the Philippines''. Wiener Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik, Bd. 14. Horn: F. Berger, 1964.
* Hurst Gallery. ''Art of the Negritos''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Hurst Gallery, 1987.
* Hurst Gallery. ''Art of the Negritos''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Hurst Gallery, 1987.
* Khadizan bin Abdullah, and Abdul Razak Yaacob. ''Pasir Lenggi, a Bateq Negrito Resettlement Area in Ulu Kelantan''. Pulau Pinang: Social Anthropology Section, School of Comparative Social Sciences, Universití Sains Malaysia, 1974.
* {{cite book |last1=bin Abdullah |first1=Khadizan |last2=Yaacob |first2=Abdul Razak |title=Pasir Lenggi, a Bateq Negrito resettlement area in Ulu Kelantan |date=1974 |oclc=2966355 }}
* Mirante, Edith (2014). ''The Wind in the Bamboo: Journeys in Search of Asia's 'Negrito' Indigenous Peoples''. Bangkok, Orchid Press.
* {{cite book |last1=Mirante |first1=Edith |title=The Wind in the Bamboo: A Journey in Search of Asia's 'Negrito' Indigenous People |date=2014 |publisher=Orchid Press Publishing Limited |isbn=978-974-524-189-3 }}
* Schebesta, P., & Schütze, F. (1970). ''The Negritos of Asia''. Human relations area files, 1–2. New Haven, Conn: Human Relations Area Files.
* Schebesta, P., & Schütze, F. (1970). ''The Negritos of Asia''. Human relations area files, 1–2. New Haven, Conn: Human Relations Area Files.
* [[Armando Marques Guedes]] (1996). ''Egalitarian Rituals. Rites of the Atta hunter-gatherers of Kalinga-Apayao, Philippines'', Social and Human Sciences Faculty, [[Universidade Nova de Lisboa]].
* [[Armando Marques Guedes]] (1996). ''Egalitarian Rituals. Rites of the Atta hunter-gatherers of Kalinga-Apayao, Philippines'', Social and Human Sciences Faculty, [[Universidade Nova de Lisboa]].
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{{Commons category|Negrito}}
{{Commons category|Negrito}}
{{AmCyc Poster|Negritos}}
{{AmCyc Poster|Negritos}}
{{EB1911 poster|Negritos}}
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20329 ''Negritos of Zambales'']—detailed book written by an American at the turn of the previous century holistically describing the Negrito culture
* [http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20329 ''Negritos of Zambales'']—detailed book written by an American at the turn of the previous century holistically describing the Negrito culture
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130520173144/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter36/text36.htm Andaman.org: The Negrito of Thailand]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20130520173144/http://www.andaman.org/BOOK/chapter36/text36.htm Andaman.org: The Negrito of Thailand]
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{{Negritos}}
{{Negritos}}
{{ph-negrito-lang}}
{{Historical definitions of race}}
{{Historical definitions of race}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:Negritos| ]]
[[Category:Demographics of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Demographics of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Indonesia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Malaysia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Malaysia]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]
[[Category:Ethnic groups in Thailand]]

Latest revision as of 15:06, 6 March 2026

This article is about the ethnic groups. For the shrub, see Citharexylum berlandieri. For the municipality, see El Negrito. For the bird genus, see Lessonia (bird).
Not to be confused with Pygmy peoples.

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Negrito
A Luzon Negrito with spear
Regions with significant populations
Isolated geographic regions in India and Maritime Southeast Asia
Languages
Andamanese languages, Aslian languages, Philippine Negrito languages
Religion
Animism, folk religion, Anito, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism

The term Negrito (/nɪˈɡriːtoʊ/; lit. 'little black person') refers to several diverse ethnic groups who inhabit isolated parts of Southeast Asia and the Andaman Islands. Populations often described as Negrito include: the Andamanese peoples (including the Great Andamanese, the Onge, the Jarawa, and the Sentinelese) of the Andaman Islands, the Semang peoples (among them, the Batek people) of Peninsular Malaysia, the Maniq people of Southern Thailand, as well as the Aeta of Luzon, the Ati and Tumandok of Panay, the Mamanwa of Mindanao, and about 30 other officially recognized ethnic groups in the Philippines.

Etymology[edit | edit source]

The word Negrito, the Spanish diminutive of negro, is used to mean "little black person." This usage was coined by 16th-century Spanish missionaries operating in the Philippines, and was borrowed by other European travellers and colonialists across Austronesia to label various peoples perceived as sharing relatively small physical stature and dark skin.[1] Contemporary usage of an alternative Spanish epithet, Negrillos, also tended to bundle these peoples with the pygmy peoples of Central Africa on the basis of perceived similarities in stature and complexion.[1] Historically, the label Negrito has also been used to refer to African pygmies.[2] The appropriateness of bundling peoples of different ethnicities by similarities in stature and complexion has been called into question.[1]

Population[edit | edit source]

There are over 100,000 Negritos in the Philippines. In 2010, there were 50,236 Aeta people in the Philippines.[3] There were 55,473 Ati people (2020 census).[4] Officially, Malaysia had approximately 4,800 Negrito (Semangs).[5] This number increases if some of the populations or individual groups among Orang Asli who have either assimilated Negrito population or have admixed origins are included. According to the 2006 census, the number of Orang Asli was 141,230 [6] Andamanese of India with just c. over 500. Thailand Negrito Maniq is estimated 300, divided into several clans.[7][8] Other puts it at 382[9] or less than 500.[10]

Culture[edit | edit source]

Batek family in Malaysia.

Most groups designated as "Negrito" lived as hunter-gatherers, while some also used agriculture, such as plant harvesting. Today most live assimilated to the majority population of their respective homeland. Discrimination and poverty are often problems, caused either by their lower social position, their hunter-gatherer lifestyles, or both.[11]

Origins[edit | edit source]

See also: Genetic history of East Asians and Peopling of Southeast Asia
Position of various ethnic groups considered "Negrito". Negritos and Oceanians are most closely related to East Asians followed by Native Americans.
A young Onge mother with her baby (Andaman Islands, India, 1905)

Based on perceived physical similarities, Negritos were once considered a single population of closely related people. However, genetic studies suggest that they consist of several separate groups descended from the same ancient East Eurasian meta-population that gave rise to modern East Asian peoples and Oceanian peoples, as well as displaying genetic heterogeneity. The Negritos form the indigenous population of Southeast Asia, but were largely absorbed by Austroasiatic- and Austronesian-speaking groups who migrated from southern East Asia into Mainland and Insular Southeast Asia with the Neolithic expansion. The remainders form minority groups in geographically isolated regions.[12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]

Genetic studies provided mixed evidence of modern Negrito populations, with populations considered Negrito showing diverse admixtures. Although a genetic affinity between Andaman Islanders, Malaysian and Filipino Negritos was detected by some authors, several studies indicate that Negrito populations are closer to their neighboring non-Negrito communities in their paternal heritage and autosomal DNA on average.[20][21] Most modern groups considered Negrito possess significant admixture from Austronesian or Austroasiatic sources, with Negrito groups in the Philippines found to have between 30 and 50% Austronesian ancestry.[22][23][24]

The Semang and Maniq in the interior of the Malay Peninsula share genetic affinities with ancient Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers, while also possessing ~35% East Asian related ancestry, likely brought about by recent admixture with surrounding agriculturalist communities in the region, according to the authors of a 2022 genetic study.[25]

It has been found that the physical and morphological phenotypes of Negritos, such as short stature, a broad and snub nose, kinky hair and dark skin, "are shaped by novel mechanisms for adaptation to tropical rainforests" through convergent evolution and positive selection, rather than a remnant of a shared common ancestor, as suggested previously by some researchers.[26][27][28][29]

A Negrito-like population was most likely also present in Taiwan before the Neolithic expansion and must have persisted into historical times, as suggested by evidence from morphological features of human skeletal remains dating from around 6,000 years ago resembling Negritos (especially Aetas in northern Luzon), and further corroborated by Chinese reports from the Qing period rule of Taiwan (1684 to 1895) and from tales of Taiwanese indigenous peoples about people with "dark skin, short-and-small body stature, frizzy hair, and occupation in forested mountains or remote caves".[30]

See also[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Manickham, Sandra Khor (2009). "Africans in Asia: The Discourse of 'Negritos' in Early Nineteenth-century Southeast Asia". In Hägerdal, Hans (ed.). Responding to the West: Essays on Colonial Domination and Asian Agency. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 69–79. ISBN 978-90-8964-093-2.
  2. ↑ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ethnology and ethnography" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 9 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 851. Second are the large Negrito family, represented in Africa by the dwarf-races of the equatorial forests, the Akkas, Batwas, Wochuas and others...
  3. ↑ "2010 Census of Population and Housing, Report No. 2A: Demographic and Housing Characteristics (Non-Sample Variables) - Philippines" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 June 2020. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Ethnicity in the Philippines (2020 Census of Population and Housing)". Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
  5. ↑ Kirk Endicott (27 November 2015). Malaysia's Original People: Past, Present and Future of the Orang Asli. Introduction. NUS Press, National University of Singapore Press. 2016, pp. 1-38. ISBN 978-9971-69-861-4. Retrieved 12 January 2019. (in English)
  6. ↑ "JAKOA Program". Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli (JAKOA). Archived from the original on 23 September 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Thonghom; Weber, George. "36. The Negrito of Thailand; The Mani". Andaman.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ↑ Primal Survivor: Season 5, episode 1
  9. ↑ "Calls for Maniq tribe to get their own patch". Bangkok Post. 11 September 2023.
  10. ↑ 2016 https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/special-reports/1139777/no-common-ground
  11. ↑ "The succesful [sic] revival of Negrito culture in the Philippines". Rutu Foundation. 6 May 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
  12. ↑ Sofwan Noerwidi (2017). "Using Dental Metrical Analysis to Determine the Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene Population History of Java". In Piper, Philip J.; Matsumura, Hirofumi; Bulbeck, David (eds.). New Perspectives in Southeast Asian and Pacific Prehistory. Acton, Australian Capital Territory: ANU Press. p. 92. ISBN 978-1-76046-095-2.
  13. ↑ Chaubey, Gyaneshwer; Endicott, Phillip (June 2013). "The Andaman Islanders in a Regional Genetic Context: Reexamining the Evidence for an Early Peopling of the Archipelago from South Asia". Human Biology. 85 (1–3): 153–172. doi:10.3378/027.085.0307. PMID 24297224. S2CID 7774927.
  14. ↑ Basu, Analabha; Sarkar-Roy, Neeta; Majumder, Partha P. (2016). "Genomic reconstruction of the history of extant populations of India reveals five distinct ancestral components and a complex structure". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 113 (6): 1594–1599. Bibcode:2016PNAS..113.1594B. doi:10.1073/pnas.1513197113. PMC 4760789. PMID 26811443.
  15. ↑ Larena, Maximilian; Sanchez-Quinto, Federico; Sjödin, Per; McKenna, James; Ebeo, Carlo; Reyes, Rebecca; Casel, Ophelia; Huang, Jin-Yuan; Hagada, Kim Pullupul; Guilay, Dennis; Reyes, Jennelyn (2021). "Multiple migrations to the Philippines during the last 50,000 years". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 118 (13). e2026132118. Bibcode:2021PNAS..11826132L. doi:10.1073/pnas.2026132118. PMC 8020671. PMID 33753512.
  16. ↑ Carlhoff, Selina; Duli, Akin; Nägele, Kathrin; Nur, Muhammad; Skov, Laurits; Sumantri, Iwan; Oktaviana, Adhi Agus; Hakim, Budianto; Burhan, Basran; Syahdar, Fardi Ali; McGahan, David P. (2021). "Genome of a middle Holocene hunter-gatherer from Wallacea". Nature. 596 (7873): 543–547. Bibcode:2021Natur.596..543C. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03823-6. hdl:10072/407535. PMC 8387238. PMID 34433944.
  17. ↑ Tagore, Debashree; Aghakhanian, Farhang; Naidu, Rakesh; Phipps, Maude E.; Basu, Analabha (2021). "Insights into the demographic history of Asia from common ancestry and admixture in the genomic landscape of present-day Austroasiatic speakers". BMC Biology. 19 (1): 61. doi:10.1186/s12915-021-00981-x. PMC 8008685. PMID 33781248.
  18. ↑ Yang, Melinda A. (6 January 2022). "A genetic history of migration, diversification, and admixture in Asia". Human Population Genetics and Genomics: 1–32. doi:10.47248/hpgg2202010001.
  19. ↑ Yew, Chee-Wei; Lu, Dongsheng; Deng, Lian; Wong, Lai-Ping; Ong, Rick Twee-Hee; Lu, Yan; Wang, Xiaoji; Yunus, Yushimah; Aghakhanian, Farhang; Mokhtar, Siti Shuhada; Hoque, Mohammad Zahirul; Voo, Christopher Lok-Yung; Abdul Rahman, Thuhairah; Bhak, Jong; Phipps, Maude E.; Xu, Shuhua; Teo, Yik-Ying; Kumar, Subbiah Vijay; Hoh, Boon-Peng (February 2018). "Genomic structure of the native inhabitants of Peninsular Malaysia and North Borneo suggests complex human population history in Southeast Asia". Human Genetics. 137 (2): 161–173. doi:10.1007/s00439-018-1869-0. PMID 29383489. S2CID 253969988. The analysis of time of divergence suggested that ancestors of Negrito were the earliest settlers in the Malay Peninsula, whom first separated from the Papuans ~ 50-33 thousand years ago (kya), followed by East Asian (~ 40-15 kya)...
  20. ↑ Aghakhanian, Farhang; Yunus, Yushima; et al. (14 April 2015). "Unravelling the Genetic History of Negritos and Indigenous Populations of Southeast Asia". Genome Biology and Evolution. 7 (5): 1206–1215. doi:10.1093/gbe/evv065. ISSN 1759-6653. PMC 4453060. PMID 25877615.Template:Creative Commons text attribution notice
  21. ↑ Endicott et al. 2003; Thangaraj et al. 2005; Wang et al. 2011, Y chromosome (Delfin et al. 2011; Scholes et al. 2011), and autosomal (HUGO Pan-Asia SNP Consortium 2009) studies indicate that Negrito populations are closer to their neighboring non-Negrito communities.
  22. ↑ Bellwood P, Fox JJ, Tryon D (2006). The Austronesians: Historical and Comparative Perspectives. Australian National University Press. ISBN 978-1-920942-85-4. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  23. ↑ Lipson M, Loh PR, Patterson N, Moorjani P, Ko YC, Stoneking M, et al. (August 2014). "Reconstructing Austronesian population history in Island Southeast Asia" (PDF). Nature Communications. 5 (1) 4689. Bibcode:2014NatCo...5.4689L. doi:10.1038/ncomms5689. PMC 4143916. PMID 25137359. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  24. ↑ Jinam TA, Phipps ME, Aghakhanian F, Majumder PP, Datar F, Stoneking M, et al. (August 2017). "Discerning the Origins of the Negritos, First Sundaland People: Deep Divergence and Archaic Admixture". Genome Biology and Evolution. 9 (8): 2013–2022. doi:10.1093/gbe/evx118. PMC 5597900. PMID 28854687. S2CID 34661604.
  25. ↑ Göllner, Tobias; Larena, Maximilian; Kutanan, Wibhu; Lukas, Helmut; Fieder, Martin; Schaschl, Helmut (2022). "Unveiling the Genetic History of the Maniq, a Primary Hunter-Gatherer Society". Genome Biology and Evolution. 14 (4). doi:10.1093/gbe/evac021. PMC 9005329. PMID 35143674.
  26. ↑ Stock, Jay T. (June 2013). "The Skeletal Phenotype of 'Negritos' from the Andaman Islands and Philippines Relative to Global Variation among Hunter-Gatherers". Human Biology. 85 (1–3): 67–94. doi:10.3378/027.085.0304. PMID 24297221. S2CID 32964023. Although general similarities in size and proportions remain between the Andamanese and Aeta, differences in humero-femoral indices and arm length between these groups and the Efé demonstrate that there is not a generic 'pygmy' phenotype. Our interpretations of negrito origins and adaptation must account for this phenotypic variation.
  27. ↑ Zhang, Xiaoming; Liu, Qi; Zhang, Hui; Zhao, Shilei; Huang, Jiahui; Sovannary, Tuot; Bunnath, Long; Aun, Hong Seang; Samnom, Ham; Su, Bing; Chen, Hua (31 March 2022). "The distinct morphological phenotypes of Southeast Asian aborigines are shaped by novel mechanisms for adaptation to tropical rainforests". National Science Review. 9 (3) nwab072. doi:10.1093/nsr/nwab072. PMC 8970429. PMID 35371514.
  28. ↑ Deng, Lian; Pan, Yuwen; Wang, Yinan; Chen, Hao; Yuan, Kai; Chen, Sihan; Lu, Dongsheng; Lu, Yan; Mokhtar, Siti Shuhada; Rahman, Thuhairah Abdul; Hoh, Boon-Peng; Xu, Shuhua (3 February 2022). "Genetic Connections and Convergent Evolution of Tropical Indigenous Peoples in Asia". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 39 (2) msab361. doi:10.1093/molbev/msab361. PMC 8826522. PMID 34940850. We hypothesize that phenotypic convergence of the dark pigmentation in TIAs could have resulted from parallel (e.g., DDB1/DAK) or genetic convergence driven by admixture (e.g., MTHFD1 and RAD18), new mutations (e.g., STK11), or notably purifying selection (e.g., MC1R).
  29. ↑ Endicott, Phillip; Gilbert, M. Thomas P.; Stringer, Chris; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Willerslev, Eske; Hansen, Anders J.; Cooper, Alan (January 2003). "The Genetic Origins of the Andaman Islanders". The American Journal of Human Genetics. 72 (1): 178–184. doi:10.1086/345487. PMC 378623. PMID 12478481. D-loop and protein-coding data reveal that phenotypic similarities with African pygmoid groups are convergent.
  30. ↑ Hung, Hsiao-chun; Matsumura, Hirofumi; Nguyen, Lan Cuong; Hanihara, Tsunehiko; Huang, Shih-Chiang; Carson, Mike T. (4 October 2022). "Negritos in Taiwan and the wider prehistory of Southeast Asia: new discovery from the Xiaoma Caves". World Archaeology. 54 (2): 207–228. doi:10.1080/00438243.2022.2121315. S2CID 252723056.

Further reading[edit | edit source]

  • Evans, Ivor Hugh Norman. The Negritos of Malaya. Cambridge [Eng.]: University Press, 1937.
  • Benjamin, Geoffrey (June 2013). "Why Have the Peninsular 'Negritos' Remained Distinct?". Human Biology. 85 (1–3): 445–484. doi:10.3378/027.085.0321. hdl:10356/106539. PMID 24297237. S2CID 9918641.
  • Garvan, John M., and Hermann Hochegger. The Negritos of the Philippines. Wiener Beitrage zur Kulturgeschichte und Linguistik, Bd. 14. Horn: F. Berger, 1964.
  • Hurst Gallery. Art of the Negritos. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Hurst Gallery, 1987.
  • bin Abdullah, Khadizan; Yaacob, Abdul Razak (1974). Pasir Lenggi, a Bateq Negrito resettlement area in Ulu Kelantan. OCLC 2966355.
  • Mirante, Edith (2014). The Wind in the Bamboo: A Journey in Search of Asia's 'Negrito' Indigenous People. Orchid Press Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-974-524-189-3.
  • Schebesta, P., & Schütze, F. (1970). The Negritos of Asia. Human relations area files, 1–2. New Haven, Conn: Human Relations Area Files.
  • Armando Marques Guedes (1996). Egalitarian Rituals. Rites of the Atta hunter-gatherers of Kalinga-Apayao, Philippines, Social and Human Sciences Faculty, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
  • Zell, Reg. About the Negritos: A Bibliography. Edition blurb, 2011.
  • Zell, Reg. Negritos of the Philippines. The People of the Bamboo - Age - A Socio-Ecological Model. Edition blurb, 2011.
  • Zell, Reg, John M. Garvan. An Investigation: On the Negritos of Tayabas. Edition blurb, 2011.

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