Contrary to the accepted theory of human development, the Malabars of northern Thailand were probably agricultural workers before becoming hunter-gatherers.
Economist, Haaretz, Walla system
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According to the conventional understanding, human history is a one-way and clear path of development. The hunters became farmers, the farmers became producers, and the producers drifted into some vague post-industrial occupation in the service sector. One of the assumptions arising from this, in the eyes of most anthropologists, is that the way of life maintained by the few groups of hunter-gatherers left on Earth is, in the non-disparaging sense of the word, primitive. In other words, it is a direct continuation of the way humans lived before one of them said to himself: I wonder what would happen if, instead of eating all the seeds, I shoved some of them back into the ground.
אבל לפי מחקר של הירוקי אוטה, בריג'יט פאקנדורף ועמיתיהם, ממכון מקס פלאנק לאנתרופולוגיה אבולוציונית בלייפציג שבגרמניה, נראה שלא תמיד אלה הם פני הדברים. הד"ר אוטה והד"ר פאקנדורף מאמינים כי בני המלאברי, קבוצת ציידים-לקטים החיים בצפון תאילנד, החלו להתקיים בעבר הלא רחוק והם צאצאיהם של עובדי אדמה. החוקרים מבססים את מסקנתם על הד-נ-א של בני המלאברי.
When the chromosomes of mother and father meet in the reproductive process, they exchange genetic material. This process goes through most DNA. But there are small bits of DNA that are not involved in it. The DNA in the intracellular structure called mitochondria is transmitted as it is from mothers to children (also to children, but they do not pass it on to their children). Similarly, part of the Y chromosome (which carries the genes that determine maleness) is passed down as it is from fathers to boys (rather than girls).
המשמעות של כל זה היא שד-נ-א מיטוכונדריאלי, ואותו חלק מהד-נ-א של כרומוזום Y, לא משתנים אלא כתוצאה ממוטציות – ושינויים כאלה אינם שכיחים. לכן, מספר הסוגים השונים של ד-נ-א כזה באוכלוסייה הוא מדד למספר הגברים והנשים שהיו בה כשנוצרה ולזמן חלף מאז חייתה אותה קבוצת "מייסדים". במקרה של בני המלאברי, מגוון הד-נ-א משני הסוגים האלה כה מצומצם (בד-נ-א המיטוכונדריאלי הוא כלל לא קיים), שלפי חישובי החוקרים בני הקבוצה הראשונים חיו לפני 800-500 שנה וכללו בין שלושה לשישה פרטים.
This does not prove, of course, that the ancestors of the Malabari were farmers. But two other findings certainly confirm this claim. One is that the DNA examined by the researchers is very similar to that of tribes living in the neighboring hills, all of whom are agricultural workers and were so even before the Malabarites came into the world. This is in contrast to the DNA of other hunter-gatherer groups that have been studied, which does not resemble that of their farming neighbors. The second finding is that the Malabar language is similar to that of their neighbors who work the land, this too in contrast to parallel findings on other hunter-gatherer groups.
And there is another clue that strengthens the researchers' conclusion. A story spread among the neighboring farmers, according to which a few hundred years ago two children were exiled from one of the villages to the thick of the forest. The two, according to the story, are the ancestors of the Malabari people. Since they could not cultivate the land, they began to hunt and their descendants continue to do so to this day.
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