Cargo cults and existing religions

[gagenater]

The modern ones are specific to the Pacific indeed. And there was no violence involved I assume. But that's also because they were remote areas that had limited or no contact with outsiders
It makes you wonder how things like the rain dance evolved. They even wore different clothing to engage in this activity, so it could have been because they've seen other people do it and eventually it was spread out to more tribes. I haven't come across anything that suggests a connection between the religious outfit and the common outfit of another civilization but there's not much to go with.

In Africa they probably despised these large ships and later on the metal beasts on both ground and air as it was a sign of doom. No idea if anything like that is imprinted in any African tribal cult which is something interesting to find out.

No part of Africa was ever isolated like the Pacific islands were, and always had technology close enough to the others that the appearance of outsiders with slightly different things than they usually used wasn't that surprising.

 

[diegosimeone]

No part of Africa was ever isolated like the Pacific islands were, and always had technology close enough to the others that the appearance of outsiders with slightly different things than they usually used wasn't that surprising.

I would assume that the desert or a massive jungle would be considered an obstacle. But of course if there was such a thing, it'd be at a much smaller extent than the Pacific islands.

 

[HuzzButt]

In practice the most distinct and isolated human populations are found in Namibia, North Western Cape and South Western Cape. The genetic divergence of the San people is staggering. Their ancestors being separated from other humans 260 000 years ago for a period of 100 000 years or more. For reference the Homo Sapiens left Africa some 120 000 to 180 000 years ago and the Aboriginal Australians arrived in Australia some 65 000 years ago. The Polynesian expansion happened around the time of the European bronze age: 3000 years ago, of course the Native Americans arrived 13000 years ago or so. Each population does of course have distinct language supporting their social isolation as well as the genetic proof for sexual isolation.

 

[JodelDiplom]

In practice the most distinct and isolated human populations are found in Namibia, North Western Cape and South Western Cape. The genetic divergence of the San people is staggering. Their ancestors being separated from other humans 260 000 years ago for a period of 100 000 years or more. For reference the Homo Sapiens left Africa some 120 000 to 180 000 years ago and the Aboriginal Australians arrived in Australia some 65 000 years ago. The Polynesian expansion happened around the time of the European bronze age: 3000 years ago, of course the Native Americans arrived 13000 years ago or so. Each population does of course have distinct language supporting their social isolation as well as the genetic proof for sexual isolation.

Wow, that's big. Do you have any sources for further reading on this?

 

[HuzzButt]

Wow, that's big. Do you have any sources for further reading on this?

From the belly of the beast 1 and 2. Earlier assumptions on the San and Khoikhoi were much more moderate and placed their genetic diversion at far later point: 80 000 years iirc similar assumptions in regards to separation were made about the Khoisan languages. A sensible guesstimate prior to the proof of Human Neanderthal genetic intermingling.

 

[gagenater]

From the belly of the beast 1 and 2. Earlier assumptions on the San and Khoikhoi were much more moderate and placed their genetic diversion at far later point: 80 000 years iirc similar assumptions in regards to separation were made about the Khoisan languages. A sensible guesstimate prior to the proof of Human Neanderthal genetic intermingling.

I almost went into these groups in my blanket statement about Africa but chose not to. The places Europeans went to when they began to ‘explore’ Africa weren’t there - heck as you note, other Africans were barely aware they existed either. The Europeans were going to places with long existing trade ties with the rest of the world, many of which already had centuries of extensive sea trade with the Arab world long before any Europeans showed up poking around. The existence of sailing ships, cannons and muskets, and later steamships, telegraphs and machine guns was hardly a surprise to them.

 

[JodelDiplom]

From the belly of the beast 1 and 2. Earlier assumptions on the San and Khoikhoi were much more moderate and placed their genetic diversion at far later point: 80 000 years iirc similar assumptions in regards to separation were made about the Khoisan languages. A sensible guesstimate prior to the proof of Human Neanderthal genetic intermingling.

Thanks!

 

[HuzzButt]

I almost went into these groups in my blanket statement about Africa but chose not to. The places Europeans went to when they began to ‘explore’ Africa weren’t there - heck as you note, other Africans were barely aware they existed either. The Europeans were going to places with long existing trade ties with the rest of the world, many of which already had centuries of extensive sea trade with the Arab world long before any Europeans showed up poking around. The existence of sailing ships, cannons and muskets, and later steamships, telegraphs and machine guns was hardly a surprise to them.

I agree, I was just musing on the outlier