Australoid is a broad racial classification, no longer used by many anthropologists, of Australasian peoples, most notably the Indigenous Australians and Melanesians. An alternative label is Australo-Melanesian.^[1] The concept's existence is based on the now disputed typological method of racial classification.^[2][3] They were described as having dark skin with wavy hair, in the case of Aboriginal Australians, or hair ranging from straight to kinky in the case of Melanesian and Negrito groups. According to this racial classification, Australoid peoples range from areas of Southeast Asia (particularly the Philippines, Malaysia, India and the subcontinent, New Guinea and Melanesia). Australasia Australasia is a term variably used to describe a region of Oceania: Australia, New Zealand, and neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. ... Languages Several hundred indigenous Australian languages (many extinct or nearly so), Australian English, Australian Aboriginal English, Torres Strait Creole, Kriol Religions Primarily Christian, with minorities of other religions including various forms of Traditional belief systems based around the Dreamtime Related ethnic groups see List of Indigenous Australian group names Indigenous... Melanesia (from Greek black islands) is a region extending from the west Pacific to the Arafura Sea, north and north-east of Australia. ... Ati woman Negrito refers a dwindling ethnic group which is now restricted to parts of Southeast Asia. ... Location of Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is a subregion of Asia. ... Map of South Asia (see note) This article deals with the geophysical region in Asia. ... Map showing Melanesia. ...

History of the theory

Huxley's map of racial categories from On the Geographical Distribution of the Chief Modifications of Mankind. Australoids, marked in blue, are depicted occupying Australia and parts of India

As of 1795 such groups typically were described as Malay (the brown race) according to Blumenbach's color-coded five race model, and contrasted with the white, black, red, and yellow races. In an attempt to simplify human diversity and account for everyone, this model was reduced down to a just three main races: The red and yellow race were grouped together and called mongoloids, the white race was called caucasoids, and the black race was called negroid. The exact location of the brown race in this new world view was inconsistent. Some lumped them in with negroids because of their dark skin and prognathism while others believed they were caucasoid because of their wavy multi-colored hair.^[clarify] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Johann Friedrich Blumenbach (May 11, 1752 _ January 22, 1840) was a German physiologist and anthropologist. ... Mongoloid was formerly used to describe people with Down syndrome, but this use is now discouraged because it is considered offensive. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ...

By the late nineteenth century, anthropometric studies led to the proposition that they constituted a distinct racial group, which was termed "Australioid" by Thomas Huxley, who used the term in a essay On the Geographical Distribution of the Chief Modifications of Mankind (1870), in which he divided humanity into four principal groups (Xanthochroic, Mongoloid, Negroid, and Australioid).^[4] The term was later strongly associated with the 20th century anthropologist Carleton S. Coon, who dropped the first "i" in "Australioid". Mesolithic Southeast Asians were presented as similarities to modern and ancient Australians, from which fact it was concluded that Australoids represented a distinct lineage surviving from an ancient wave of human migrations. Descendents were supposed to have survived in geographically isolated locations, while on the mainland early Australoids were assimilated or displaced by Mongoloids. It has been suggested that Bertillion Record be merged into this article or section. ... Thomas Henry Huxley, FRS (4 May 1825 – 29 June 1895) [1] was an English biologist, known as Darwins Bulldog for his advocacy of Charles Darwins theory of evolution. ... Carleton Stevens Coon, (23 June 1904 – 3 June 1981) was an American physical anthropologist best remembered for his books on race. ... Typical Mongoloid Skull A portrait of the Mongol ruler Genghis Khan; the Mongolians, for which the term Mongoloid was named after, are an example of the prototype Northern Mongoloid. ...

Isolated populations such as the Gondi tribes in northern India were termed as vestiges of earlier Australoid populations. It was also proposed that the Dravidian peoples of South India may be related to such populations. Gondi refers to a people and their language in central India. ... Languages Dravidian languages Religions Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Traditional religions Related ethnic groups Brahui people Kannadigas Malayalis Tamils Telugus Tuluvas Dravidian people, Dravidian race or Dravidians are terms that are some times given to people of mainly Southern India, Northeastern Sri Lanka, and parts of Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal who currently...

Indeed, some Dravidians today are described phenotypically using various synonyms such as Australoid, or Negrito-Australoid.^[5] Most, however, were placed by Coon in the Caucasoid category due to their caucasian skulls.^[6]

In the mid-twentieth century, other writers proposed an argument emerged that Australoids were linked to proto-Caucasoids. R. Ruggles Gates argued in 1960 that they are "best classified as archaic Caucasians".^[7]

However, as with other phenotypical classifications of humanity, the value of the term Australoid has been in challenged by genetic studies which have identified significant differences between distinct peoples who have been placed together within the category. As a result, anthropogists have abandoned the system of racial classification of which this term is a part.

Skulls comparable to Australoid peoples have been found in the Americas, leading to speculation that peoples with similarities to modern Australoids may have been the earliest occupants of the continent. ^[8][9] These have been termed by some Pre-Siberian American Aborigines. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The first Americans?

Skulls comparable to Australoid peoples have been found in the Americas, leading to speculation that peoples with phenotypical similarities to modern Australoids may have been the earliest occupants of the continent. ^[10][11] These have been termed by some Pre-Siberian American Aborigines. These early Americans left signs of settlement in Brazil which may date back as many as 50,000 years ago. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

One of earliest skulls recovered by archaeologists is a specimen scientists have named Lucia.[4] According to archaeologist Walter Neves of the University of São Paulo, detailed measurements of the skull revealed that Lucia revealed that she "was anything but mongoloid." Further, when a forensic artist reconstructed Lucia's face, "the result was surprising: 'It ha[d] all the features of a negroid face"....^[12] This July 2007 does not cite any references or sources. ... Central plaza at USPs main campus at São Paulo City, showing the Clock Tower The University of São Paulo (in Portuguese Universidade de São Paulo; USP) is one of the three public universities funded by the State of São Paulo. ... The word forensic (from Latin: forensis - forum) refers to something of, pertaining to, or used in a court of law. ...

Scientists believe these Australoid first Americans later were displaced relatively recently by peoples with more brachycephalic profiles, projecting zygomas and monolids (cold climate morphology) approximately 7,000 to 9,000 years ago. A small number of peoples living in Tierra del Fuego are speculated to be a possible remnant of these earliest known Americans. The large size of a polar bear allows it to radiate less heat in a cold climate. ... Tierra del Fuego Cerro Sombrero Village, Chile. ...

The pre-European Fuegeans, who lived stone age-style lives until this century, show hybrid skull features which could have resulted from intermarrying between mongoloid and negroid peoples. Their rituals and traditions also bear some resemblance to the ancient rock art in Brazil."....^[13]

Homo floresiensis

The recent discovery of diminutive humans on the isle of Flores has led to debate about whether or not they constitute a distinct species, labelled homo floresiensis, or a subspecies or homo sapiens. Teuku Jacob, chief paleontologist of the Indonesian Gadjah Mada University and other scientists reportedly disagree with the placement of the new finds into a new species of Homo, stating instead, "It is a sub-species of Homo sapiens classified under the Austrolomelanesid race".^[14] Binomial name P. Brown , 2004 Homo floresiensis (Man of Flores, nicknamed Hobbit) is the name for a possible species in the genus Homo, remarkable for its small body, small brain, and survival until relatively recent times. ...

Notes

is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 238th day of the year (239th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year. ... is the 310th day of the year (311th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Race
• Sundaland
• Sundadont
• Indo-Pacific languages

For other uses, see Race (disambiguation). ... Sundaland is a biogeographical region of Southeast Asia that comprises the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali, Borneo, and surrounding smaller islands. ... Anthropologist Christy Turner identified what he termed the Mongoloid dental complex for East Asia, consisting of two patterns: Sinodonty and Sundadonty. ... The Indo-Pacific super-family groups together several language families, mainly spoken in Papua New Guinea and nearby regions, which are not Austronesian, together with the native languages of Tasmania and the Andaman Islands. ...

External links

• "Negro and Negrillo", by M. Stewart
• Australians were the first Americans
• World Archaeology Volume 38, Issue 1 March 2006, pages 109 - 132: Races of Homo sapiens: if not in the southwest Pacific, then nowhere "Australian crania dated to approximately 10,000 years ago cannot be considered specifically Australian, based on their measurements, but they can be regarded as distinctly southwest Pacific."