The ancient Chamorros, the earliest known inhabitants of the Mariana Islands, were of Mayo-Polynesian descent originating from southeast Asia as early as 2,000 B.C. Through linguistic, archaeological, and historical evidences, the cultural similarities of the ancient and present day Chamorros resemble the languages and cultures of Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines. According to the book "Chamorro Legends" pg. 2, "chamorro' comes from the native words "chamorri' or "chamoli" words which signify "NOBLE". Spanish dictionaries indicate that the word "Chamorro" means "to have the head shaved or to be bald."

The first historical document relating the general physical features of the ancient Chamorros, written by Pifigetta in 1521, described them as being tall, big-boned, robust with tawny brown skin and long black hair. The present day Chamorros are a mixture of various ethnic compositions consisting of the many cultural groups originating from Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In 1962, President Kennedy lifted the Naval Clearing Act which allowed other ethnic groups to make Guam their home. Since that time, many Filipinos, Caucasians, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Indians, and Pacific Islanders have moved to Guam. The present population is a rich blend of many races which makes Guam a cosmopolitan community of various customs and traditions.

Guam Cultural Youth Dancers
Pre-teen Girls in Cultural Attire. 		Spanish Era dresses called metizas
Spanish Era dresses called metizas

THE ANCIENT ONES
Chamorus, have traditionally populated the Marianas Island Chain of which Guam is the Southmost and largest Island. Radiocarbon dating of the earliest Pre-Latte deposits have placed excavations found thus far (within an error of 120 years) to go as far back as 1755 BC. Jane Underwood, Univ of Arizona, Tucson, has estimated that the 140 generations of Chamorus who have ever lived in the Marianas since the time of their initial discovery approximately 3,500 years ago numbered to be over 2 million Chamorus. The estimated size of the population during the time of Spanish contact at 1521 was 65,000 to 85,000. Historian Benigno Palomo noted that the first official Spanish Census taken in 1710, after the Spanish Chamorro war, indicate 3,143 natives mostly women and 471 spanish mestizo people.

Building of Latte houses by David Sablan> </img> <p> Michael Pietrusewsky, Univ of Hawaii, estimated that prehistoric Mariana Islander women heights range from 5'2.5 During prehistoric times, ancestor worship caused bones of warriors and leaders {maga lahis} to be removed from year-old skeletons for bone spear points manufacture. These spirits of ancestors or taotaomonas during prehistory have been called upon to assist in hunting, fishing and warfare against the Spanish colonialists.

Stanley Ambrose, Univ of Illinois, analyze the isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in bone and found a significant reliance on seaweed and sugar cane by some prehistoric individuals from Rota, Guam and Saipan. Michele Douglas and colleagues, Univ of Hawaii, stated that the age at death among the adults averaged 43.5 years.

Gary Heathcote, Univ of Guam, Douglas Hanson, Forsyth Institute for Advance Research, Boston, and Bruce Anderson, Army Central Identification Lab of Hickam AFB Hawaii, reported that 14% to 21% of ancient Chamorros were unique with respect to all human populations, past and present by the presence of cranial outgrowths on the backs of Chamoru skulls where the tendons of the neck and trapezius (superior oblique and sternocleidomastoid) shoulder muscles attach. The bone projections, on skulls during the Latte Period, indicate presence of very powerful muscular individuals as corroborated by legends on Guam. To download the booklet about Tagga Man's anthopological bone analysis by Dr. Gary Heathcote, right click this pdf link

Found only in indigenous Mariana Islanders {and later on Tonga}, these structures were induced by repetitive loading of the shoulders and arms {click to see Chamorro anatomy to locate the sternocleidomastoid neck muscle} by:

1. Carrying heavy loads at the sides
2. Power Lifting heavy loads with neck forwardly flexed
3. Mining /limestone quarrying
4. Transporting heavy loads by use of a tumpline
5. Long-distance canoeing and navigation and
6. Underwater swimming / spear fishing.
The largest skull tubercle development coincide with limestone quarrying and masonry monument building of latte stones. The largest bony superstructures are found in unusually muscular men and women from sites with the largest megaliths. The bone growths become more pronounced the further north one travels in the Marianas. Interestingly, the skull with the most pronounced tubercles belong to a middle-aged woman from Achugao area of western Saipan.

Population of Guam after Spanish Chamorro Wars of 1669-1697

Ancient Human Strength

There is unconventional discussion attempting to link the Chamoru hyper musculature to their ocean diet. Indigenous to ancient Guam, the fruit bat was sole land mammal with the ocean (pelagic fishes) providing a part of the food source. Intriguingly, an unidentified ocean algae/seaweed consumed directly or inside fish stomachs [for example, Chamorus ingest meat and stomachs of Tatagas or Unicorn fish which grazes on brown seaweed] may be responsible for blocking a protein called myostatin or growth/differentiation factor 8 (GDF-8), which controls tissue growth.

Interfering or blocking the expression and function of myostatin, it is said that dramatic muscle mass/strength may increase. Although the identity of that algae is as yet unidentified, precedence is set by a well-known algae, cystoseria canariensis grown in the Canary Islands which is harvested solely for the purpose of building muscle mass. Note: On Guam only 2 algae are known to be a direct food resource - 1. caulerpa racemosa (called ado' or green sea grapes) marinated and eaten as a condiment and 2. gracileria Tsudae (chaguan tasi) which is avoided because of the blue green algae growing on the seaweed which renders gracileria Tsudae noxious. Click here for narratives of Early 14th Century European Contact with Chamorros referencing their physical attributes.

Identifying the geographical origins of the precusor inhabitants of Guam might not be possible but we may find commonalities:

With Southeast Asia based on unearthed evolved pottery designs.

With the Indonesian Island of Sulawesi where the Chamoru language most closely resembles Bareic based on a comparison of standardized word lists (Murdock, 1968, 88)
With the Ilokano and Tagalog in the Philippines based on analysis of the grammatical structure of Chamorro language (Topping, Ogo, & Dungca, 1975, 3)
With the aboriginal Malay sea nomads locally known to themselves as the Moken Palau or Urak Lawoi from western coastal Thailand near the Sea of Andaman based on mitochondria (mtDNA) analysis of ha ir samples as reported by Koji Lum and Gary Heathcode, 1998. The next closest mtDNA similarity of the Marianas sample is with Japan, then aboriginal Australians, then a sample from Java (Lum & Heathcote, 1998, 5).

The Art above was rendered by David Sablan entitled "TINITUHUN" or "The Beginning".

LINKS:

|Guam ultimate site| Guam's Indigenous Poet| Legends of Guam|