The life of people in primitive times. The primitive era of mankind

The most ancient people. In 1959, in the Olduvai Valley in Kenya, the English archaeologist L. Leakey made one of the most famous archaeological discoveries. He discovered the oldest remains of the bones of humanoid creatures, which were adjacent to tools, which enabled scientists to call these creatures Homo habilis - “handy man.” Other discoveries followed. It is now believed that the earliest people appeared about 3 - 2.5 million years ago.
The discovery of bones of humanoid creatures with the tools they produced indicates the separation of man from the natural world, although there is another view on the development of man, where the formation of bipedalism (3.5 million years ago) is considered to be the main one.
The humanoid creatures that appeared in Africa were very different from modern humans in anatomical structure: they had a significantly smaller brain volume, smaller height (about 120 cm) and weight (about 50 kg), and massive brow ridges hung over their eyes. The Habilis were already walking on two legs. The earliest people did not yet use speech as a means of communication. Life expectancy rarely exceeded 20 years.
People of that time lived in groups, but did not yet feel mutual kinship and therefore these groups were fragile, easily disintegrated and formed again. To a large extent, the relationships in such groups resembled the relationships in an animal herd, hence the name “primitive human herd” was assigned to them. The herd consisted of 25 - 40 individuals.
The basis of the diet of ancient people was plant food obtained by gathering. The meat diet was meager. Man was far from the strongest or fastest animal, and had not yet acquired the skills of collective hunting.
Initially, the earliest people lived in the savannas and woodlands of Africa. However, human herds were quite mobile and easily moved from place to place. Approximately 1.5 million years ago, human groups began to spread beyond Africa and colonized large areas of Eurasia, located in the tropical and subtropical climate zone. In Europe, man appears, as can now be judged, about 1 million years ago. However, in quantitative terms there were still very few people and therefore their individual groups were separated by vast uninhabited territories.
We can talk about the emergence of human speech already 500 thousand years ago. This indicates a fairly developed consciousness. The use of fire also dates back to this time.
About 180 thousand years ago, Neanderthal man formed.
The separation of man from the natural world occurred as a result of his mastering the production of tools and the beginning of their use in the process of everyday life. labor activity.
Periodization of the history of primitive society. Most of human history consists of the period of primitive society. During this period, development proceeded very slowly.
This process can be traced most clearly in the example of the improvement of the tools of labor of primitive man. They were made of stone and therefore well preserved.
It was the changes in the tools of labor that formed the basis for the existing periodization of the history of primitiveness. The entire period when tools were made from stone was called the Stone Age. According to the level of improvement of stone processing, the Paleolithic is distinguished, which translated from Greek means ancient stone, - 2.5 million ago - 12 thousand years BC, Mesolithic (middle stone) - 12 - 8 thousand years BC . and Neolithic (new stone) - 8 - 4 thousand years BC.

Cooling on the ground and the advance of the glacier. About 100 thousand years ago, a general cooling of the globe began, as a result of which a glacier began to advance from the north. It covered vast territories, and in Eastern Europe it reached the latitude of Kyiv.
By that time, humans had already inhabited large areas of Eurasia. Now most of these territories have turned into tundra. Abrupt climate change has had a very serious impact on the livelihoods of human communities. People accustomed to a warm climate did not tolerate the cold well. The flora and fauna that surrounded people changed dramatically. Most edible plants disappeared, and numerous herds of northern animals appeared in human habitats: mammoths, deer, horses, bison.
One of the most significant adaptations of man to new living conditions began. The diet has changed dramatically. People have mastered collective driven hunting for large animals. Meat became their main food.
The role of fire in human life has increased. It warmed a person and was used for cooking meat food. To escape the cold, people began to use clothing and build permanent shelters.
This time turned out to be quite favorable for people’s lives, which is associated, for example, with the abundance of meat food, as evidenced by the demographic boom at this time.
The emergence of man modern look.
About 40 thousand years ago, a modern human appeared, called by scientists Homo sapiens - a reasonable person.
Through the isthmuses that existed at that time, people penetrated into Australia and America. Settlement of people in different geographical conditions led to the beginning of the process of race formation. The result was the division of humanity into Caucasoids, Mongoloids and Negroids.
It was not only appearance that distinguished Homo sapiens from its predecessors. The most important event for the development of man as a species was the awareness of new relationships within groups. Now we call these relationships social or public.
First of all, this was expressed in the affirmation of kinship relationships between people. It was a real revolution in a person's life. It was the recognition of kinship that stabilized human groups, led to the regulation of relations between people and made clan communities permanent and cohesive associations, which was not observed either in the animal world or in the primitive herd. A clan community arose, all of whose members descended from a common ancestor.
The most important step towards becoming public relations became a ban on marriage or sexual relations between relatives. Women were now allowed to be taken from neighboring friendly clans. This in turn led to the establishment of stable relationships between individual genera. Several friendly clans began to unite into tribes.
There was a ban on killing a relative, and if he died at the hands of a foreigner, the family took revenge for his death. “Blood feud” greatly contributed to curbing bloody skirmishes and wars between clans, since it was unsafe to kill a person because he was under the protection of his clan. Therefore, the most terrible punishment was expulsion from the clan.
Clan associations were also important because only the entire clan had the opportunity to feed itself. Social differentiation in the clan community of the hunting and gathering period did not yet exist. All property of the clan, including food, was common. Relatives helped each other in all matters and obtained food together. Everyone made a contribution to the life of the community and received from it as much as possible.
A huge role in the formation social relations The emergence of the main means of communication - language - played a role between people.
It should be noted in the formation of Homo sapiens how social type and the meaning of religion. The question of the reasons for its appearance is very difficult. However, it is clear that this was the first attempt by people to explain the world around them, which indicates the emergence of abstract thinking.
The religious views of the people of that time were manifested in the emergence of burial rituals for the dead.
It is known that a fertility cult appeared at this time. Fertility was personified by goddesses with disproportionately fat bodies. Archaeologists call their figurines “Paleolithic Venuses.”
Paleolithic art also testifies to the emergence of abstract thinking in the Late Paleolithic. The preserved “cave galleries” in caves in France, Spain and in Kapova Cave in Russia make a grandiose impression.
Social relations and abstract thinking have become distinctive features Homo sapiens from his ancestors.

Periodization of ancient history

The first stage in the development of mankind is primitive communal system- takes a huge period of time from the moment of the separation of man from the animal kingdom (about 3-5 million years ago) until the formation of class societies in various regions of the planet (approximately 4 thousand BC). Its periodization is based on differences in the material and technique of making tools ( archaeological periodization). In accordance with it, three historical periods are distinguished in the ancient era:

stone Age (from the emergence of man to the 3rd millennium BC), bronze age(from the end of the 4th to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), iron age(from the 1st millennium BC).

In turn, the Stone Age is divided into ancient (paleolithic), Middle Ages (Mesolithic) And new (Neolithic) and transition to the Bronze Age Chalcolithic(Copper-Stone Age).

A number of scientists divide the history of primitive society into five stages, each of which differs in the degree of development of tools, the materials from which they were made, the quality of housing, and the appropriate organization of housekeeping.

In addition to the production of tools, the material culture of ancient humanity was closely connected with the creation of dwellings.

The most interesting archaeological finds of ancient dwellings date back to the Early Paleolithic. The remains of 21 seasonal camps have been discovered in France. In one of them, an oval fence made of stones was discovered, which can be interpreted as the foundation of a light dwelling. Inside the dwelling there were hearths and places for making tools. In the cave of Le Lazare (France), the remains of a shelter were discovered, the reconstruction of which suggests the presence of supports, a roof made of skins, internal partitions and two hearths in large room. The beds are made from animal skins (fox, wolf, lynx) and seaweed. These finds date back to about 150 thousand years.

The primitive era of humanity is characterized by a low level of development of productive forces, their slow improvement, and collective appropriation natural resources and the results of production (primarily the exploited territory), equal distribution, socio-economic equality, absence of private property, exploitation of man by man, classes, states.

An analysis of the development of primitive human society shows that this development was extremely uneven. The process of separation of our distant ancestors from the world of great apes was very slow.

The general scheme of human evolution is as follows: Homo australopithecus]

homo erectus- early hominids: Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus;

a person of modern physical appearance - late hominids: Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic people.

Almost the appearance of the first australopithecines marked the birth material culture directly related to the production of tools. It was the tools that became the means for archaeologists to determine the main stages of the development of ancient humanity.

The rich and generous nature of the period did not help to accelerate this process; only with the onset of harsh conditions ice age, with the intensification of the labor activity of primitive man in his difficult struggle for existence, new skills rapidly appear, tools are improved, and new social forms are developed. Mastery of fire, collective hunting for large animals, adaptation to the conditions of a melted glacier, the invention of the bow, the transition from appropriating to a producing economy (cattle breeding and agriculture), the discovery of metal (copper, bronze, iron) and the creation of a complex tribal organization of society - these are the the most important stages that mark the path of humanity in the conditions of the primitive communal system.

Development rate human culture gradually accelerated, especially with the transition to a producing economy. But another feature has emerged - the geographical unevenness of the development of society. Areas with an unfavorable, harsh geographical environment continued to develop slowly, while areas with a mild climate and ore reserves moved faster towards civilization.

A colossal glacier (about 100 thousand years ago), which covered half of the planet and created a harsh climate that affected plant and animal world, inevitably divides the history of primitive humanity into three different periods: pre-glacial with a warm subtropical climate, glacial and post-glacial. Each of these periods corresponds to a certain physical type of person: in the pre-glacial period - archaeological trails(pithecanthropus, synanthropus, etc.), during the glacial period - pstheoan-tropes(Neanderthal man), at the end of the Ice Age, in the Late Paleolithic, - neoanthropes, modern people.

• See: Markov G.E. History of economy and material culture in primitive early class society. M.: MSU, 1979. P. 19-20.

). As sources about the prehistoric times of cultures that until recently were deprived of writing, there may be oral traditions passed down from generation to generation.

Since data about prehistory rarely concerns individuals and does not even always say anything about ethnic groups, the basic social unit of human prehistory is the archaeological culture. All terms and periodizations of this era, such as Neanderthal or Iron Age, are retrospective and largely arbitrary, and their precise definition is a matter of debate.

Terminology

A synonym for "prehistoric period" is the term " prehistory", which is used less often in Russian-language literature than similar terms in foreign literature (English. prehistory, German Urgeschichte).

To designate the final stage of the prehistoric era of a culture, when it itself has not yet created its own written language, but is already mentioned in the written monuments of other peoples, the term “protohistory” (English) is often used in foreign literature. protohistory, German Frühgeschichte). To replace the term primitive communal system, characterizing the social structure before the emergence of power, some historians use the terms “savagery”, “anarchy”, “primitive communism”, “pre-civilization period” and others. IN Russian literature this term did not catch on.

Non-classical historians deny the very existence of communities and primitive communal system, relationship, identity of power and violence.

From the following stages of social development primitive communal system was distinguished by the absence of private property, classes and the state. Modern studies of primitive society, according to neo-historians who deny the traditional periodization of the development of human society, refute the existence of such a social structure and the existence of communities, communal property under the primitive communal system, and further, as a natural result of the non-existence of the primitive communal system - the non-existence of communal agricultural land ownership right up to the end XVIII century in most countries of the world, including Russia, at least since the Neolithic.

Periods of development of primitive society

At different times, different periodizations of the development of human society have been proposed. Thus, A. Ferguson and then Morgan used a periodization of history that included three stages: savagery, barbarism and civilization, and the first two stages were divided by Morgan into three stages (lower, middle and higher) each. At the stage of savagery, human activity was dominated by hunting, fishing and gathering, there was no private property, and equality existed. At the stage of barbarism, agriculture and cattle breeding appear, private property and social hierarchy arise. The third stage - civilization - is associated with the emergence of the state, class society, cities, writing, etc.

Morgan considered the earliest stage of development of human society to be the lowest stage of savagery, which began with the formation of articulate speech; the middle stage of savagery, according to his classification, begins with the use of fire and the appearance of fish food in the diet, and the highest stage of savagery with the invention of the onion. The lowest stage of barbarism, according to his classification, begins with the advent of pottery, the middle stage of barbarism with the transition to agriculture and cattle breeding, and the highest stage of barbarism with the beginning of the use of iron.

The most developed periodization is archaeological, which is based on a comparison of man-made tools, their materials, forms of dwellings, burials, etc. According to this principle, human history is mainly divided into the Stone Age, Bronze Age and Iron Age.

Stone Age

Stone Age - ancient period in the history of mankind, when the main tools and weapons were made mainly of stone, but wood and bone were also used. At the end of the Stone Age, the use of clay spread (dishes, brick buildings, sculpture).

Periodization of the Stone Age:

• Paleolithic:
  • Lower Paleolithic - period of appearance oldest species people and widespread Homo erectus .
  • The Middle Paleolithic is the period when erecti were replaced by evolutionarily more advanced species of people, including modern humans. Neanderthals dominated Europe throughout the Middle Paleolithic.
  • The Upper Paleolithic is the period of dominance of the modern species of people throughout the globe during the era of the last glaciation.
• Mesolithic and Epipaleolithic; the terminology depends on how affected the region is by the loss of megafauna as a result of the melting glacier. The period is characterized by the development of technology for the production of stone tools and general culture person. There is no ceramics.
• Neolithic - the era of the emergence of agriculture. Tools and weapons are still made of stone, but their production is being brought to perfection, and ceramics are widely distributed.

Copper Age

Copper Age, Copper-Stone Age, Chalcolithic (Greek. χαλκός "copper" + Greek λίθος “stone”) or Chalcolithic (lat. aeneus“copper” + Greek λίθος “stone”)) is a period in the history of primitive society, the transition period from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age. Approximately covers the period 4-3 thousand BC. e., but in some territories it exists longer, and in some it is absent altogether. Most often, the Chalcolithic is included in the Bronze Age, but is sometimes considered a separate period. During the Eneolithic, copper tools were common, but stone ones still predominated.

Bronze Age

The Bronze Age is a period in the history of primitive society, characterized by the leading role of bronze products, which was associated with the improvement of the processing of metals such as copper and tin obtained from ore deposits, and the subsequent production of bronze from them. The Bronze Age is the second, later phase of the Early Metal Age, which replaced the Copper Age and preceded the Iron Age. Generally, chronological framework Bronze Age: 35/33 - 13/11 centuries. BC e., but they differ among different cultures. In the Eastern Mediterranean, the end of the Bronze Age is associated with the almost synchronous destruction of all local civilizations at the turn of the 13th-12th centuries. BC e., known as the bronze collapse, while in western Europe the transition from the bronze to the iron age dragged on for several more centuries and ended with the emergence of the first cultures of antiquity - ancient Greece and ancient Rome.

Bronze Age periods:

1. Early Bronze Age
2. Middle Bronze Age
3. Late Bronze Age

Iron Age

Iron Age coin hoard

The Iron Age is a period in the history of primitive society, characterized by the spread of iron metallurgy and the manufacture of iron tools. Bronze Age civilizations go beyond the history of primitive society; other peoples' civilization takes shape during the Iron Age.

The term "Iron Age" is usually applied to the "barbarian" cultures of Europe that existed simultaneously with the great civilizations of antiquity (Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Parthia). From ancient cultures The “barbarians” were distinguished by the absence or rare use of writing, and therefore information about them has reached us either from archaeological data or from mentions in ancient sources. On the territory of Europe during the Iron Age, M. B. Shchukin identified six “barbarian worlds”:

• Proto-Germans (mainly Jastorf culture + southern Scandinavia);
• mostly Proto-Baltic cultures of the forest zone (possibly including Proto-Slavs);
• proto-Finno-Ugric and proto-Sami cultures of the northern forest zone (mainly along rivers and lakes);
• steppe Iranian-speaking cultures (Scythians, Sarmatians, etc.);
• pastoral-agricultural cultures of the Thracians, Dacians and Getae.

History of the development of public relations

The first tools of human labor were a chipped stone and a stick. People earned their livelihood by hunting, which they did together, and gathering. Communities of people were small, they led a nomadic lifestyle, moving around in search of food. But some communities of people who lived in the most favorable conditions began to move towards partial settlement.

The most important stage in human development was the emergence of language. Instead of the signal language of animals, which facilitates their coordination during the hunt, people were able to express in language the abstract concepts of “stone in general”, “beast in general”. This use of language led to the opportunity to teach offspring with words, and not just by example, to plan actions before the hunt, and not during it, etc.

Any spoils were divided among the entire group of people. Tools, household utensils, and jewelry were in the use of individual people, but the owner of the thing was obliged to share it, and in addition, anyone could take someone else’s thing and use it without asking (remnants of this are still found among some peoples).

A person’s natural breadwinner was his mother - at first she fed him with her milk, then generally took upon herself the responsibility of providing him with food and everything necessary for life. This food had to be hunted by men - the mother's brothers who belonged to her clan. Thus, cells began to form, consisting of several brothers, several sisters and the children of the latter. They lived in communal dwellings.

Experts currently generally believe that during the Paleolithic and Neolithic times - 50-20 thousand years ago - social status women and men were equal, although it was previously believed that matriarchy reigned at first.

At first, neighboring clans and tribes exchanged what nature gave them: salt, rare stones, etc. Both entire communities and individual people exchanged gifts; This phenomenon is called gift exchange. One of its varieties was “silent exchange”. Then tribes of farmers, cattle breeders and those who ran agricultural and livestock farming emerged, and between tribes with different economic orientations, and subsequently within tribes, the exchange of products of their labor developed.

Some researchers believe that tribes of hunters who did not accept an agrarian way of life began to “hunt” peasant communities, taking away food and property. This is how a dual system of producing rural communities and squads of former hunters robbing them developed. The leaders of the hunters gradually moved from raiding robbery of peasants to regular regulated exactions (tribute). For self-defense and to protect citizens from attacks by competitors, fortified cities were built. The last stage of pre-state development of society was the so-called military democracy.

Power and social norms in primitive society

The emergence of religion

Primitive tribes did not have special cult ministers; religious and magical rituals were performed primarily by the heads of clan groups on behalf of the entire clan, or by people whose personal qualities earned them a reputation as knowing the techniques of influencing the world of spirits and gods (healers, shamans, etc.). With the development of social differentiation, professional priests emerge, arrogating to themselves the exclusive right to communicate with spirits and gods.

see also

• Early history (protohistory)

Notes

Links

• Alekseev V.P., Pershits A.I. History of primitive society: Textbook. for universities for special purposes "Story". - M.: Higher. school, 1990

• "The transition from primitive society to class society: paths and options for development." Part I

1. Approachesto the periodization of the prehistoric period.

2.

3. Neolithic revolution.

4. Formation of nations.

Approaches to the periodization of the prehistoric period.

The entire period of the past of humanity is usually divided into two uneven periods. The first - the largest - is called prehistoric(or prehistory), the second is historical (civilization).

The oldest form of organization of human life was the primitive communal system (ca. 2.5 million - 6 thousand years BC). It was the longest era in the history of mankind, the reason for which was the slow pace of development of society in its first stages. All stages of the primitive communal system are united by the collective nature of people’s lives, which is apparently due to great difficulties of survival.

It is generally accepted to divide primitive society into periods according to the main materials that were used to make tools (Fig. 1):

This periodization, naturally, does not mean that tools were not made from wood and bone in the Stone Age, and from stone in the Bronze Age. We are talking about the predominance of one material or another. In the Stone Age, which is usually identified with the primitive communal system, three eras are distinguished:

- paleolithic(Greek – paleolit ​​- ancient stone) – up to 12 thousand years ago;

- Mesolithic(Greek – mesolit middle stone) – up to 9 thousand years ago;

- Neolithic(Greek – neolit ​​new stone) – up to 6 thousand years ago.

Epochs are divided into periods - early (lower), middle and late (upper), as well as into cultures characterized by a uniform set of objects of life.

The creator of the Lower Paleolithic cultures was a man of the type Pithecanthropa Middle Paleolithic – Neanderthal, Upper Paleolithic – Cro-Magnon. This definition is based on archaeological research in Western Europe and cannot be fully extended to other regions. About 70 sites of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic and about 300 sites of the Upper Paleolithic have been studied on the territory of Russia.

During the Paleolithic period, people initially made rough hand axes from flint, which were standardized tools. Then the production of specialized tools begins - these are knives, piercings, scrapers, composite tools, for example a stone ax

The Mesolithic is dominated by microliths - tools made of thin stone plates, which were inserted into a bone or wooden frame. It was then that the bow and arrows were invented.

The Neolithic is characterized by the manufacture of tools from soft stones - jade, slate, slate. Learn more advanced and complex techniques for sawing and drilling holes in stone, and grinding stone.

The Stone Age is replaced by a short period Chalcolithic, i.e., the existence of cultures with copper-stone implements. Respectively. First, the technology for manufacturing copper tools is based on a processing method such as cold forging, and then casting.

The Bronze Age began in Europe in the 20th century. BC e. At this time, the first states emerged in many regions of the planet, civilizations developed - Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean, Mexican in America. The first iron products appeared in Russia around the 7th century. BC e.

Another periodization system based on comprehensive characterization material and spiritual cultures, suggested by an American scientist Lewis Morgan. In accordance with this system, primitive society is divided into three periods:

Civilization.

Period savagery- This is the time of the early tribal system (Paleolithic and Mesolithic), it ends with the invention of the bow and arrow. During barbarism ceramic products appeared, agriculture and animal husbandry appeared. For civilization Characterized by the emergence of bronze metallurgy, writing and states.

Finally in the 20th century. scientists proposed systems of periodization of primitive society, the criteria of which were evolution of ownership forms. In general terms, such periodization can be represented as follows:

The era of the primitive herd;

The era of the tribal system;

The era of the decomposition of the communal-tribal system (the emergence of cattle breeding, plow farming and metal processing, the emergence of elements of exploitation and private property).

Anthropogenesis and features of the transition to the clan system.

The Early Paleolithic is the time of human formation (anthropogenesis). This process is extremely lengthy and complex. It is still far from being fully studied; science has accumulated more questions on this problem than answers. The first human ancestors to embark on the path of anthropogenesis were Australopithecus(about 2.5 million years ago), already walking on their hind limbs, which freed up their front limbs and thereby created the prerequisites for labor activity.

The most ancient people(archanthropes) were traditionally considered Pithecanthropa(ape-man) and Sinanthropa(a species of Pithecanthropus discovered in China), which appeared about 1 year ago. In science, this human ancestor is called homo habilis - a skillful person.

Early Paleolithic- the time of the primitive human herd. During the Early Paleolithic, there were several major glacier advances - glaciations, accompanied by a sharp cooling. For the archanthropes, existence was possible only in a warm climate that did not require either clothing or shelter. Neanderthals spread much more widely. At the end of the Early Paleolithic, primitive dwellings and clothing made from skins appeared. The Paleolithic economy was consuming (appropriating). It was based on hunting large animals. Plant food was obtained by collecting edible plants and digging roots from the ground. The archanthropes already used ready-made fire and kept fires going. Fire gave people protection from the cold and from wild animals, and reduced their dependence on the climate. A hearth appeared - a symbol of human habitation. People have the opportunity to use fried foods, which are better absorbed by the body. Even greater were the long-term consequences of mastering fire: without it, neither ceramics nor metallurgy would be possible.

At the end of the Early Paleolithic, about 100 thousand years ago, Neanderthal man, or Neanderthal . Neanderthals are already considered to be the next stage of human development - to ancient people(to paleoanthropists). They stand much closer to modern people than archanthropes. Neanderthals probably already learned how to make fire. The Neanderthals apparently already had the first rudiments of religion.

The transition from the Early Paleolithic to the Late (40-35 thousand years ago) was marked by the appearance of modern humans - homo sapiens - a reasonable person. With its emergence, the biological evolution of man ended; this was the second major leap in anthropogenesis: from “prehumans,” archanthropes and paleoanthropes to humans.

In the Late Paleolithic there appears tribal system. The main unit of human society became the clan community with common ownership of the main means of production. The products of hunting, fishing and gathering were distributed equally among all members of the clan. The authority of the clan elders was based not on coercion, but on tradition, respect for experience and skills.

Late Paleolithic people significantly improved the technique of making stone tools: they became more diverse, sometimes miniature. A throwing spear and a predecessor to the bow, the spear thrower, appeared, which greatly increased the efficiency of hunting. Fishing arose: harpoons and remains of fish were repeatedly found at sites of this era. Bone items, including needles, are widespread, indicating the appearance of embroidered clothing. If at the end of the Early Paleolithic the first primitive dwellings appeared, now people were already building dugouts, and sometimes entire villages consisting of several dwellings. Man has learned to adapt to nature not biologically, but socially, to protect himself from the cold with the help of housing and clothing. These achievements allowed people to significantly expand the limits of the habitable part of the globe. This was also facilitated by warming caused by the retreat of the glacier.

Late Paleolithic- time of occurrence art. At many sites, female figurines are found. They testify to the cult of the woman-mother, the progenitor of the clan. In the Late Paleolithic there undoubtedly already existed religion, a clear funeral rite can be traced. Sometimes some things that the deceased used during his lifetime were placed in the grave. This is evidence of the emergence of the idea of ​​an afterlife.

Thus, by the end of the Paleolithic, man learned not only to make fire and eat thermally processed food, make complex stone and bone tools, sew clothes, build dwellings, hunt and fish, but also to live social order with social consciousness and its important forms - art and religion. However, man did not yet know either ceramics, or metal, or the wheel, or agriculture, or cattle breeding.

The most important achievement of the next stage of the Stone Age - the Mesolithic - was the invention of the bow and arrow, which dramatically increased hunting productivity. Now, along with round-up hunting, individual hunting has also emerged, not only for large herd animals, but also for small ones. It became possible to create food reserves.

During the Mesolithic era, man took the first steps in the direction of cattle breeding. The domestication, and possibly the domestication, of animals began. So, in the Mesolithic, dogs, the first domestic animals, already appeared. It is possible that at the end of the Mesolithic in some areas pigs, goats, and sheep were domesticated.

The transition to the Neolithic and its duration in different regions of Eurasia differed significantly from each other. It began first in Central Asia (about 6 - 4 thousand years BC). In the forest zone of Russia, the Neolithic lasted about two thousand more years, until 2 thousand years BC. e. This was reflected in the uneven development of different regions, associated primarily with natural conditions: a warm climate and fertile soil created favorable conditions for economic development.

During the Neolithic era the transition to producing economy. It was then that pastoralism and agriculture began, although hunting and gathering were still the main sources of subsistence in most Neolithic communities.

Neolithic revolution.

The changes that occurred at the end of the Stone Age (Neolithic) (about 8-6 thousand) are usually called Neolithic revolution. Its main content is a radical transition from the primitive economy of hunters and gatherers to productive agriculture based on farming and animal husbandry.

Major changes are taking place in the area technologies production of tools and studying the properties of materials. Man has achieved virtuoso art in the processing of stone and bone. The following processing operations were opened: grinding And drilling. The tools acquired new properties, became complex, composite, and miniature.

4. the emergence of the first social restrictions and laws;

5. the emergence of new knowledge systems transmitted from generation to generation (through writing).

With the progress of changes associated with the Neolithic revolution, agricultural communities began to fill the Earth, as hunters had previously filled it. The importance of male labor has increased markedly - clearing land, cultivating the soil, etc. - all this required physical strength. Men's unions became an important element of social organization. The male part of the community chose leader. At first, such people were influential due to their personal qualities, and then the power of the leaders began to be transferred by inheritance. The result of these processes was the emergence privileged sections of society- leaders, priests.

People lived at this timetribal system.Tribal communities were united and united. All people worked together. Property was also shared. The tools of labor, the large hut of the clan, all the land, and livestock were communal property. No one could arbitrarily dispose of the community's property alone. But soon the so-called first division of labor occurred (farming was separated from cattle breeding). A tangible surplus product began to appear, and tribal communities began to be divided into families.

Each family could work independently and feed itself. Families demanded that everything be divided communal ownership of parts, between families ( private property- from the word “part”). At first, tools, livestock, and household items became private property. Instead of one large hut for a whole clan, each family began to build a separate home for itself. Housing also became the private property of the family. Later, the land also became private property.

Private property does not belong to the entire collective, but only to one owner. Usually such a master was the head of a large family. After the death of the head of the family, his eldest son became the owner. Private property awakens people's interest in work. Each family understood that a good and well-fed life depended only on the hard work of family members. If the family worked hard, the entire harvest was theirs. Therefore, people sought to better cultivate arable land and care for livestock more carefully. Sometimes you can hear the statement that private property arises due to human greed. However, in fact, private property arose only when the economy began to develop and when reserves of surplus product appeared. Clan communities gradually died out. Instead they appeared neighboring communities.

Rice. Diagram of the organization of labor activity in the tribal (left) and neighboring (right) communities (try to formulate the difference).

In the neighboring community, people gradually forgot about their once common kinship. This was not considered important. Now, as a rule, they did not work as a single team, although they still worked voluntarily and without coercion. Each family privately owned a hut with a vegetable garden, a plot of arable land, livestock, and tools. But communal property remained. For example, rivers and lakes. Everyone could fish. Any community member did this on his own. The boat and net were his private property, so the catch also became private property. The forest was communal property, but animals killed during the hunt, mushrooms, berries and brushwood collected became private property. They used the pasture together, driving cattle out to it every morning. But in the evening, each family drove their cows and sheep into the barn. But the neighboring community still continued to unite people.

Gradually, from the complex of such relations regarding the production and ownership of surplus product, property rights arose inequality. Leaders and other categories of influential members of the community began to demand offerings from ordinary members. Captives captured in wars between tribes became slaves.

Some researchers believe that tribes of hunters who did not adopt an agrarian way of life began to “hunt” rural communities, taking away food and property. This is how a system of producing rural communities and squads of hunters robbing them developed. The hunter leaders gradually moved from robbery to regular exactions (tribute). For self-defense and to protect subjects from attacks by competitors, fortified cities were built. The last stage of pre-state development of society was the so-called military democracy.

began to arise chiefdoms- political entities (prototypes of states), including several villages or communities united under the permanent authority of the supreme leader. Tribes began to unite into tribal unions, which gradually began to transform into nationalities. Most likely, this is how the first states arose in Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Ancient India at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC.

The real revolution in the history of mankind was the development metal. The transition to it was long, difficult and not simultaneous. The development of metal became possible only on the basis of an already established production economy, in the presence of some, at least minimal, surpluses of food, so that part of the time could be devoted to the manufacture of metal products. That is why ancient blacksmithing and metallurgy originated primarily in the southern regions, where, thanks to good natural conditions Agriculture developed earlier.

The first metal used by man was copper. At first, tools and jewelry were made from it using cold forging, which this relatively soft metal easily lends itself to. Of course, this copper was not chemically pure: in natural deposits, copper, as a rule, contains certain impurities - arsenic, antimony, etc. But these are not yet artificial alloys, the development of which was a matter of the future.

The appearance of copper tools intensified the exchange between tribes, since copper deposits are very unevenly distributed around the globe. Many tribes that used metal lived far from its sources. Constant exchange led to significant shifts in relationships.

Formation of nations

Linguistic classification formed the basis of the ethnic picture of the world. All languages ​​are divided into large families, related by a common origin and divided into groups of related languages. Branches are sometimes distinguished within groups, but some languages ​​are not included in groups. For example, the Indo-European language family.

Indo-European language family

Slavic group:

Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian.

Baltic group:

Latvian, Lithuanian.

German group:

German, English, Flemish, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish.

Roman group:

Italian, Spanish, Moldovan, Portuguese, Romanian, French.

Iranian group:

Afghan, Iranian, Ossetian, Tajik.

Although we do not have reliable data to determine the ethnic groups of the Neolithic and Eneolithic periods, we still managed to obtain some information through analysis geographical names. On the territory of the Volga-Oka interfluve they settled Finno-Ugric and Samoyed peoples. Apparently, in the late Neolithic and early Bronze Age they colonized Eastern Siberia. Already in the Neolithic, Finno-Ugric tribes occupied the Eastern Baltic, and in the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e. spread throughout the entire forest belt of the Volga region and the Volga-Oka interfluve.

Most of Eastern Europe has long been inhabited Indo-Europeans. In the Baltics, along with the Finno-Ugric tribes, tribes have long appeared Balts

Iranian-speaking tribes lived in Southern Siberia until the beginning of our era. The heirs of the tribes of this culture were Cimmerians, Scythians, Sarmatians.

ancestral home Turkic peoples are the steppes of Central Asia. At the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age, they begin to penetrate north, into Siberia and west, to the Urals, into Central Asia and to the Caucasus.

Questions for self-control:

1. List the main approaches to periodization of the prehistoric period.

2. List the main stages of anthropogenesis with the chronology of their occurrence.

3. Describethe concept of “tribal system” and the dynamics of its development.

4. WhatIs the essence of the Neolithic revolution revealed?

5. What important consequences of the Neolithic Revolution can you name?

6. Tell us about the process of formation of peoples in the European-Asian region.

Questions for discussion (discussion on the forum):

1. What influence did the period of prehistory have on the development process??

2. Is the process of anthropogenesis completed?

Complete the answers to the assignments in a MS Office Word document, save them under the name “Full name_History as a science” and send by e-mail: ae. *****@***ru

Glossary:

Section - I - Brief introductory description of primitive society
Section - II - Primitive human herd
Section - III - Primitive Hunters
Section - IV - Formation of the clan
Section - V - Agriculture and cattle breeding of ancient people

It is interesting to realize that the course of development and sudden climate changes forced our human race to evolve from a prosimian into a completely intelligent creature. A large number of finds in Africa indicate that civilized humanity is one of the smallest parts of the entire history of the existence of our species. Australopithecus.

Prehistoric man inhabited Africa presumably between 3.5-1.8 million years ago. In those days it was small herds of semi-intelligent monkeys, which were called Australopithecines - i.e. southern monkeys. They were distinguished by a fairly large jaw, a small brain, an upright posture, and the ability to hold a stone or a club in their hands.

Homo habilis (English: homo habilis) arose around 2.5 million years ago. years ago.This primitive characterized by the fact that he had the opportunity to use the first tools made of stone on the farm. Stone tools could be used to dig up roots, hunt, skin a dead animal, chop branches, etc. It is the skilled man who is considered the main representative of the entire modern human race. Being homo habilis, primitive people moved on two legs. Their flock consisted of several males, and presumably the same number of females. They ate both animal and plant foods. They couldn't talk yet. Only with the help of simple shouts and gestures did they somehow talk to each other.

Pithecanthropus. The next round of development of primitive man is considered to be “straightened man” (i.e. from the English homo erectus), pithecanthropus or ape-man. to his appearance this creature still resembled animals. It was hairy, with a large jaw, low forehead and large head. But Pithecanthropus, unlike other homo habilis, learned not just to select sticks and pebbles from the ground, but to make them himself. This is how various scrapers and sharp axes arose, which were good for cutting roots, branches, hunting, and also cutting animal skins. It was during the time of Pithecanthropus, primitive people learned to adapt to different conditions climate. Their sites were recorded in Africa, Europe, and China.

And the first site of Pithecanthropus was found on the island of Java. During the period of the existence of homo erectus, glaciers began to advance on the earth. It began to get very cold and the level of the World Ocean decreased. Therefore, many scattered small groups primitive people were forced to unite. This made it easier to hunt and protect yourself from threats. Around the same period, fire appeared, with the help of which primitive man warmed himself. The Pithecanthropus community evolved very slowly. In this society, adults began teach younger generations to hunt and p growing crafts, after some time arose