human
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, cultu ...
Homo sapiens
Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, ...
'' as humans, who hardly differed from modern humans biologically (an assertion disputed by
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
), and other representatives of the genus ''
Homo
''Homo'' () is the genus that emerged in the (otherwise extinct) genus '' Australopithecus'' that encompasses the extant species ''Homo sapiens'' ( modern humans), plus several extinct species classified as either ancestral to or closely relat ...
Neanderthal
Neanderthals (, also ''Homo neanderthalensis'' and erroneously ''Homo sapiens neanderthalensis''), also written as Neandertals, are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. While the ...
''. Engels claimed "that animal family dynamics and human primitive society are incompatible things" because "the primitive humans that developed out of animalism either knew no family at all or at most one that does not occur among animals". The U.S. anthropologist
Lewis Henry Morgan
Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evol ...
and translations of his books also make use of the term.
In specificity, this long period of time is not directly accessible through historical sources. Nevertheless, in archeology, the study of material cultures provides a variety of opportunities to gain a better understanding of this period, work that is likewise present in
sociobiology
Sociobiology is a field of biology that aims to examine and explain social behavior in terms of evolution. It draws from disciplines including psychology, ethology, anthropology, evolution, zoology, archaeology, and population genetics. Within ...
mythologies
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrati ...
.
Duration
The so-called primitive society, or more appropriately, the primitive societies, probably span by far the longest period in the history of mankind to date, more than three million years, while other forms of society have existed and continue to exist for only a relatively short period in comparison (less than 1 percent of the period).
From archaeology comes the term '' Stone Age'' for the period in which stone tools ( fist wedges) are the oldest chronologically classifiable and roughly datable finds. Other, even older
tool
A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...
s and objects made of natural or animal materials (wood, bones, skins) decayed and did not survive. This Stone Age also includes the development of new
social structure
In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...
s about 20,000 to 6,000 years ago. Generally, the advent of
arable farming
Arable land (from the la, wikt:arabilis#Latin, arabilis, "able to be ploughed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops.''Oxford English Dictionary'', "arable, ''adj''. and ''n.''" Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Al ...
New Stone Age
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
and the end of this phase. The Neolithic Revolution was followed in some areas by the
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...
(around 2200 to 800 BC), but in some cases ran in parallel.
Theoretical assumptions
A
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
is formed by different sized
social group
In the social sciences, a social group can be defined as two or more people who interact with one another, share similar characteristics, and collectively have a sense of unity. Regardless, social groups come in a myriad of sizes and varieties ...
s acting together. At different times in the history, as well as in different climates and
ecozones An Ecozone may refer to:
* Ecozone (Canada), one of 15 first-level ecological land classifications in Canada
* Biogeographic realm, the broadest biogeographic division of Earth's land surface (referred to as ''ecozone'' by BBC)
* Biome, a large c ...
, human societies were quite different.
The gradual dispersal of early human groups (estimated at 1 to 10 kilometers per year) initially placed few demands on them and their generational succession-they did not perceive any changes, especially in equatorial regions. However, drastic environmental changes such as
ice
Ice is water frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius or Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaqu ...
and warm periods, to which the migrants were exposed in the target area, caused new forms of adaptation with corresponding social structures. Food gathering and weather protection as well as the use of
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames a ...
were socially successful. However, a high social differentiation of primitive social forms of organization cannot be assumed. The first graspable societies as well as similar present groups appear relatively equal (
egalitarian
Egalitarianism (), or equalitarianism, is a school of thought within political philosophy that builds from the concept of social equality, prioritizing it for all people. Egalitarian doctrines are generally characterized by the idea that all hu ...
).
The isolation of individual groups, e.g. during the
glacial periods
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
or in insular settlement areas, led to culturally different traditions as well as to
phenotypic
In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...
, also racial theoretical differentiations. The comparatively rare contacts were found by a pedestrian, overall stationary society in the nearest vicinity. Whether the
exogamy
Exogamy is the social norm of marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which two groups c ...
(external marriage) indicates that people became aware of reproductive biology (
procreation
Reproduction (or procreation or breeding) is the biological process by which new individual organisms – "offspring" – are produced from their "parent" or parents. Reproduction is a fundamental feature of all known life; each individual org ...
) is doubted; exogamy is sociologically seen rather as a proving safeguard of (re-) integration of diverging groupings (for example, in lineage or clan alliances with intermarriage).
Some religious traditions also speak of ''a'' primal society, referring to the preforms of later religions spread across all hunter-gatherer groupings, derived from the social practices of their members. In written cultures, the distinction between shepherds and cultivators that persists to this day is evident, for example, in the biblical Story of Cain and
Abel
Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepherd ...
. Still in modernmacrosociological theories there are sophisticated assumptions about common features of ''a'' primitive society, for instance in
Thomas Hobbes
Thomas Hobbes ( ; 5/15 April 1588 – 4/14 December 1679) was an English philosopher, considered to be one of the founders of modern political philosophy. Hobbes is best known for his 1651 book ''Leviathan'', in which he expounds an influ ...
,
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...
or Friedrich Engels.
Whether early humans lived dominion-free or
anarchic
Anarchy is a society without a government. It may also refer to a society or group of people that entirely rejects a set hierarchy. ''Anarchy'' was first used in English in 1539, meaning "an absence of government". Pierre-Joseph Proudhon adopted ...
or already formed consolidated leadership positions ( chiefs) is in each case only a justifiable assumption. Also whether they organized themselves as social hordes, cultivated religious
cults
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This s ...
(with
ancestor cult
The veneration of the dead, including one's ancestors, is based on love and respect for the deceased. In some cultures, it is related to beliefs that the dead have a continued existence, and may possess the ability to influence the fortune of ...
or
totemism
A totem (from oj, ᑑᑌᒼ, italics=no or '' doodem'') is a spirit being, sacred object, or symbol that serves as an emblem of a group of people, such as a family, clan, lineage, or tribe, such as in the Anishinaabe clan system.
While ''the w ...
?) and culturally already knew narrators or familially already the Kernfamilie. Economically, this society is based on a occupation economy that varies depending on the geological time or vegetation zone. attributed: a life as a hunter, fisherman and gatherer (game-keeper). During the Ice Age, for example, their focus in Central Europe and North America was on
hunting
Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products ( fur/ hide, bone/tusks, horn/antler, ...
, while elsewhere
gathering
Gather, gatherer, or gathering may refer to:
Anthropology and sociology
* Hunter-gatherer, a person or a society whose subsistence depends on hunting and gathering of wild foods
*Intensive gathering, the practice of cultivating wild plants as a s ...
and
fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from stocked bodies of water such as ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. Fishing techniques inclu ...
also became important, as in Central Europe after the migration of large animal fauna in the Middle Stone Age (compare Scandinavian middens).
In Marxist theory on the social development of mankind, especially in
historical materialism
Historical materialism is the term used to describe Karl Marx's theory of history. Marx locates historical change in the rise of class societies and the way humans labor together to make their livelihoods. For Marx and his lifetime collaborat ...
, primitive society is also called classlessprimitive communismDieter Reinisch (Hrsg.): ''Der Urkommunismus. Auf den Spuren der egalitären Gesellschaft.'' Promedia, Wien 2012, ISBN 978-3-85371-350-1. because, just as in the "
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
" that followed
capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
means of production
The means of production is a term which describes land, labor and capital that can be used to produce products (such as goods or services); however, the term can also refer to anything that is used to produce products. It can also be used as an ...
* Dieter Claessens: ''Das Konkrete und das Abstrakte. Soziologische Skizzen zur Anthropologie.'' Suhrkamp, Frankfurt 1993, ISBN 3-518-28708-7.
*
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels ( ,"Engels" '' Lewis Henry Morgan
Lewis Henry Morgan (November 21, 1818 – December 17, 1881) was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist who worked as a railroad lawyer. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evol ...
: ''Die Urgesellschaft oder Untersuchung über den Fortschritt der Menschheit aus der Wildheit durch die Barbarei zur Zivilisation.'' 1891 (Nachdruck: Achenbach, Lahn 1979; US-Original 1877: ''Ancient Society, Or: Researches in the lines of human progress from savagery through barbarism to civilisation'').
* Hansjürgen Müller-Beck: ''Die Steinzeit. Der Weg der Menschen in die Geschichte.'' 4., durchgesehene und aktualisierte Ausgabe. Beck, München 2004, ISBN 978-3-406-47719-5.
* Joachim Herrmann, Irmgard Sellnow (Hrsg.): ''Produktivkräfte und Gesellschaftsformationen in vorkapitalistischer Zeit.'' Akademie, Berlin 1982 (= ''Veröffentlichungen des Zentralinstituts für Alte Geschichte und Archäologie der Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR.'' Band 12).