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Concept
Melanesians
Summary
Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands. Most speak one of the many languages of the Austronesian language family (especially ones in the Oceanic branch) or one of the many unrelated families of Papuan languages. There are several creoles of the region, such as Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama, and Papuan Malay.
The original inhabitants of the group of islands now of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands were the ancestors of the present-day Papuan people. Melanesia (that includes Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and Fiji) was first inhabited by the Austronesian peoples, later followed by Melanesians who created the Lapita culture. They appear to have occupied these islands as far east as the main islands in the Solomon Islands, including Makira and possibly the smaller islands farther to the east.
Particularly along the north coast of New Guinea and in the islands north and east of New Guinea, the Austronesian people, who had migrated into the area more than 3,000 years ago, came into contact with these pre-existing populations of Papuan-speaking peoples. In the late 20th century, some scholars theorized a long period of interaction, which resulted in many complex changes in genetics, languages, and culture among the peoples. It was proposed that, from this area, a very small group of people (speaking an Austronesian language) departed to the east to become the forebears of the Polynesian people. The indigenous Melanesian populations are thus often classified into two main groups based on differences in language, culture or genetic ancestry: the Papuan-speaking and Austronesian-speaking groups.
This Polynesian theory was overturned by a 2010 study, which was based on genome scans and evaluation of more than 800 genetic markers among a wide variety of Pacific peoples. It found that neither Polynesians nor Micronesians have much genetic relation to Melanesians. Both groups are strongly related genetically to East Asians, particularly Taiwanese aborigines.
Official source
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