A NOTE ON TERMINOLOGY

"Pygmy", a term with numerous mythological and ethnographic referents, derives from the Greek word Pygmaîos (via the Latin Pygmaeus), meaning approximately "one cubit high" (slightly less than 50 cm, roughly the distance from the elbow to the knuckles or fingertips).

Homer was the first to mention the Pygmies, in the third book of the Iliad, referring to their legendary and eternal battle with the cranes: the geranomachia. Many centuries later (at the time of nineteenth-century explorations), when European explorers encountered African rainforests peoples, particularly small in stature, they thought to find an ethnographic confirmation of the ancient legend's origin. Hence, the arbitrary application of the greek name of "Pygmies" to peoples who may have no connection – contrary to what is often claimed – with the legends of ancient Greece.

Anyway, when referring to African rainforest hunter-gatherers (as well as to any other people) it is always preferable to use the native name by which they call themselves (Baka, Bakola, ecc.). However, we should also note that despite some differences (including the linguistic ones) these groups are characterized by cultural and somatic traits which are very homogeneous and clearly distinct from those of all other Central African peoples, and that there isn't an alternative term for "Pygmies" which can effectively indicate them all. It was therefore decided to freely use the term in the website's text and address, for that and other reasons (including its universal diffusion, the clear and generally shared link with its ethnographic referent, the site's informative purpose, etc..), but always bearing in mind that this term comes from a non-native word, arbitrarily assigned from outside.

Regarding the texts on the website's pages, most of it has been written in Italian and then translated for the English version. Thank you for any suggestions or reports of errors, for which you can use the email address shown on the Contact page.