The Proto-Malay has a lighter average skin color, straight hair, and epicanthal folds, work as farmer traders.
Proto-Malay also known as Aboriginal Malay, was the second largest group of Orang Asli which were separated into six tribes; Jakun/Orang Hulu, Temuan, Semelai, Kuala, Kanaq and Seletar.
The Jakun belong to the group of Orang Asli often referred to as ‘Proto-Malays’. Historically, it is believed that the Jakun people descended from early migrants, around 2,500 BC, from the Yunan province in China.
The Proto-Malays who arrived later than Negritos were seafaring people and settled mostly in the central and southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. They are believed to be descendants of Neolithic Austronesian voyagers who migrated out of Taiwan to islands of Southeast Asia, and Near and Remote Oceania.
The Proto-Malays were also a stone-age people, but because their stone implements were better than those of the Negritos, this period is called the Neolithic or New Stone Age.
Proto-Malays are similar to Deutero-Malays not only from the morphological aspect, but they also share similarity in their culture and languages. Deutero-Malays are believed to have reached Peninsular Malaysia about 1500-2000 years ago, though the southern part of China, which is also the starting point from migration on Proto-Malays to Peninsular Malaysia.
Proto-Malays
