The oldest stage of human history. Ancient history of mankind

The history of mankind dates back more than a million years ago. Thanks to archaeological excavations, scientists were able to establish that the origin of the human race occurred in Africa - it was there that the remains of primitive people were discovered.

What is archeology

Modern society would never have known what our distant ancestors looked and lived like if not for archaeology. This is the science of antiquity, which studies the history of human society from found human remains and household items.

Archaeologists regularly conduct excavations, extracting from the bowels of the earth household items, personal belongings and bones of people who lived hundreds, thousands of years ago.

In 1924, during archaeological excavations in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, the remains of Australopithecus, a southern homo, were discovered, which became the ancestor of modern man. Subsequently, the remains of Australopithecus were found in Central and Eastern Africa. Therefore, it is generally accepted that the African continent is the cradle of all humanity.

Rice. 1. Remains of Australopithecus.

The very first period of human history is the era of primitive history - it was then that the birth of the human race took place.

Primitive

The earliest man had little resemblance to modern man: he had much more in common with a great ape. However, it no longer belonged to primates, since it had the following features:

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• Movement is not on four limbs, but on two legs. Upright walking is the most important difference between ancient man and animals.
• Long arms made it convenient to do simple work: picking berries, digging the ground, grabbing, knocking.
• The brain size was larger than that of apes, but much smaller than that of modern humans.

Rice. 2. The most ancient man.

The ancient people expressed strong emotions with the help of abrupt sounds, since speech was not yet developed. They ate only what they found.

Primeval world

Primitive people gathered in small groups, because it was extremely difficult for one person to survive in the wild. Since they lived in warm regions of the world, there was no need to worry about clothing. However, primitive people still learned to build primitive dwellings that saved them from scorching sun rays, rain, and predators.

The first tools of labor of the ancient people were their strong hands and teeth, as well as stones and broken tree branches. Over time, they learned to make the simplest tools from available materials: sticks, horns and bones of animals, stones.

The main occupation of the ancient people was obtaining food: fishing and hunting, which required dexterity, endurance and great physical strength. Women collected edible plants and berries. There was an exchange of some goods for others between the tribes.

The ability to make and use fire had a huge impact on the development of mankind. Thanks to this, ancient people significantly improved their lives: fire provided them with warmth, reliable protection from wild animals, and improved the quality of food.

Ancient people passed on their knowledge to their descendants with the help of rock paintings. With the help of primitive figurines, they depicted the world around them, important periods of their lives: scenes of hunting, skirmishes with warring tribes.

Rice. 3. Rock painting

Primitive history lasted for hundreds of years. During this time, ancient people were able to settle almost throughout the globe and populate all continents, except for the harsh Antarctica.

What have we learned?

While studying the topic “The Beginning of Human History,” we learned what were the features of the appearance and behavior of ancient man. We found out how our distant ancestors lived, how the development of the very first - primitive - era in human history took place.

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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 characteristics of 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 livestock 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 archanthropes, it was possible to exist only in a warm climate, which 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 of 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, to make complex stone and bone tools, to sew clothes, to build dwellings, to hunt and fish, but also to live in a social system 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 group, 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 had previously developed.

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 subdivided 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 Chalcolithic periods, we were able to obtain some information through the analysis of 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, Central Asia and 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. In 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 complete?

Complete the answers to the assignments in a MS Office Word document, save them under the name “Name_History as a Science” and send by email: ae. *****@***ru

Glossary:

MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

BELGOROD LAW INSTITUTE

Department of Humanitarian and Socio-Economic Disciplines

Discipline: Russian history

ABSTRACT

on the topic “The Ancient History of Humanity and Our Fatherland”

Prepared by:

Student Pronkin N.N.

Prepared by:

teacher of the department

police captain

Khryakov R.N.

Belgorod – 2008

The age of the human community is estimated at 35-40 thousand years (it must be borne in mind that man appeared on planet Earth much earlier). At the dawn of history, human communities, regardless of the region of residence, began from the same starting position, which is commonly called the primitive communal system.

This system was characterized by extraordinary similarity throughout the entire territory of human habitation; uniformity of social structures, work practices, beliefs, everyday culture, etc. But throughout history, humanity has arrived at strikingly unequal results. In the modern world we have a colossal variety of social structures, political systems, levels and types of economic development, spiritual, artistic culture, etc.

History as a science about the development of human society in all its diversity is a set of various actions, actions of individuals, human groups, consisting of a certain relationship, making up human society. Therefore, the subject of the study of history is the actions of individuals, humanity, and the totality of relationships in society.

According to the breadth of study of the object, history is divided into: the history of the world as a whole (world or universal history), the history of continents (for example, the history of Asia and Africa, the history of Australia), the history of individual countries and peoples or groups of peoples (for example, the history of Russia, the history of southern and western Slavs).

Historical science has gone through several stages of development as society develops, summarizing the experience of many human generations, enriching itself with new historical facts. Its basis is the collection, systematization and generalization of facts. Branches of historical knowledge are distinguished: civil history, political history, history of state and law, history of public administration, economic history, military history, history of religion, social history, history of culture, music, language, literature.

Historical sciences also include ethnography, which studies the life and culture of peoples, and archeology, which studies history using material sources of antiquity - tools, household utensils, jewelry, etc., and entire complexes - settlements, burial grounds, treasures, etc.

Auxiliary historical disciplines have a narrower subject of study, study it in detail and contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical process as a whole.

1. Periodization of the ancient history of mankind

Modern science has come to the conclusion that all the diversity of current space objects was formed about 20 billion years ago. The Sun, one of the many stars in our galaxy, arose 10 billion years ago. Our Earth, an ordinary planet in the solar system, is 4.6 billion years old. It is now generally accepted that man began to separate from the animal world about 3 million years ago.

The periodization of human history at the stage of the primitive communal system is quite complex. Several variants are known. The archaeological diagram is most often used. In accordance with it, the history of mankind is divided into three large stages, depending on the material from which the tools used by man were made. Stone Age: 3 million years ago - end of the 3rd millennium BC. e.; Bronze Age: end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. - I millennium BC e.; Iron Age - from the 1st millennium BC. e.

Among different peoples in different regions of the Earth, the appearance of certain tools and forms of social life did not occur simultaneously. There was a process of formation of man (anthropogenesis, from the Greek "anthropos" - man, "genesis" - origin) and human society (sociogenesis, from the Latin "societas" - society and the Greek "genesis" - origin).

The most ancient ancestors of modern man resembled apes, who, unlike animals, were able to produce tools. In the scientific literature, this type of ape-man is called homohabilis - a skilled man. The further evolution of habilis led to the appearance 1.5-1.6 million years ago of the so-called Pithecanthropus (from the Greek “pithekos” - monkey, “anthropos” - man), or archanthropes (from the Greek “achaios” - ancient). Archanthropes were already people. 300-200 thousand years ago, archanthropes were replaced by a more developed type of person - paleoanthropes, or Neanderthals (according to the place of their first discovery in the Neanderthal area in Germany).

During the Early Stone Age - Paleolithic (approximately 700 thousand years ago), people entered the territory of Eastern Europe. Settlement came from the south. Archaeologists find traces of the presence of ancient people in the Crimea (Kiik-Koba caves), in Abkhazia (near Sukhumi-Yashtukh), in Armenia (Satani-Dar hill near Yerevan), as well as in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan, Tashkent region). In the Zhitomir region and on the Dniester, traces of people being here 500-300 thousand years ago were found.

About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of the territory of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains were formed).

Obviously, the emergence of articulate speech and the clan organization of society dates back to this time. The first, still extremely vague, religious ideas began to emerge, as evidenced by the appearance of artificial burials.

The difficulties of the struggle for existence, fear of the forces of nature and the inability to explain them were the reasons for the emergence of the pagan religion. Paganism was the deification of the forces of nature, animals, plants, good and evil spirits. This huge complex of primitive beliefs, customs, and rituals preceded the spread of world religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.).

During the Late Paleolithic period (35-10 thousand years ago), the melting of the glacier ended, and a climate similar to the modern one was established. The use of fire for cooking, the further development of tools, as well as the first attempts to regulate relations between the sexes significantly changed the physical type of man. It was at this time that the transformation of a skilled man (homohabilis) into a reasonable man (homosapiens) dates back to this time. Based on the place where it was first found, it is called Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon area in France). At the same time, obviously, as a result of adaptation to the environment in the conditions of the existence of sharp differences in climate between different regions of the globe, the existing races (Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid) were formed.

The processing of stone and especially bone and antler was further developed. Scientists sometimes call the Late Paleolithic the “Bone Age.” Finds of this time include daggers, spearheads, harpoons, eyed needles, awls, etc. Traces of the first long-term settlements were discovered. Not only caves, but also huts and dugouts built by man served as housing. Remains of jewelry have been found that make it possible to reproduce the clothing of that time.

During the Late Paleolithic period, the primitive herd was replaced by a higher form of social organization - the clan community. A clan community is an association of people of the same clan who have collective property and run a household based on the age and gender division of labor in the absence of exploitation.

Before the advent of pair marriage, kinship was established through the maternal line. The woman at this time played a leading role in the household, which determined the first stage of the clan system - matriarchy, which lasted until the time of the spread of metal.

Many works of art created in the Late Paleolithic era have reached us. Picturesque colorful rock carvings of animals (mammoths, bison, bears, deer, horses, etc.) that people of that time hunted, as well as figurines depicting a female deity, were discovered in caves and sites in France, Italy, and the Southern Urals ( famous Kapova Cave).

In the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age (10-8 thousand years ago), new advances were made in stone processing. The tips and blades of knives, spears, and harpoons were then made as a kind of inserts from thin flint plates. A stone ax was used to process wood. One of the most important achievements was the invention of the bow, a long-range weapon that made it possible to more successfully hunt animals and birds. People learned to make snares and hunting traps.

Fishing was added to hunting and gathering. People have been observed trying to swim on logs. The domestication of animals began: the dog was tamed, followed by the pig. Eurasia was finally populated: man reached the shores of the Baltic and Pacific Oceans. At the same time, as many researchers believe, people came from Siberia through the Chukotka Peninsula to America.

Neolithic - the last period of the Stone Age (7-5 ​​thousand years ago) is characterized by the appearance of grinding and drilling of stone tools (axes, adzes, hoes). Handles were attached to objects. Since this time, pottery has been known. People began to build boats, learned to weave nets for fishing, and weave.

Significant changes in technology and forms of production at this time are sometimes called the "Neolithic Revolution". Its most important result was the transition from gathering, from an appropriating economy to a producing one. People were no longer afraid to break away from their habitable places; they could settle more freely in search of better living conditions, exploring new lands.

Depending on the natural and climatic conditions, various types of economic activity have developed in Eastern Europe and Siberia. Cattle-breeding tribes lived in the steppe zone from the middle Dnieper to Altai. Farmers settled in the territories of modern Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and southern Siberia.

Hunting and fishing was typical for the northern forest regions of the European part and Siberia. The historical development of individual regions was uneven. Cattle-breeding and agricultural tribes developed more quickly. Agriculture gradually penetrated into the steppe regions.

Among the sites of farmers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, one can distinguish Neolithic settlements in Turkmenistan (near Ashgabat), Armenia (near Yerevan), etc. In Central Asia in the 4th millennium BC. e. The first artificial irrigation systems were created.

On the East European Plain, the oldest agricultural culture was Tripolye, named after the village of Tripolye near Kyiv. Settlements of Trypillians were discovered by archaeologists in the territory from the Dnieper to the Carpathians. They were large settlements of farmers and cattle breeders, whose dwellings were located in a circle.

During excavations of these villages, grains of wheat, barley, and millet were discovered. Wooden sickles with flint inserts, stone grain grinders and other items were found. The Trypillian culture dates back to the Copper-Stone Age - the Eneolithic (III-I millennium BC).

Humanity received a new impetus in the historical development by mastering the production of metal. On the territory of our country, the development of those tribes that lived near deposits of copper and tin accelerated. On the territory of Eurasia, such tribes lived in the regions of the North Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals and Siberia.

The transition to metal tools led to the separation of pastoral and agricultural tribes. The role of men - shepherds and farmers - in production has increased. Matriarchy was replaced by patriarchy. Cattle breeding entailed even more intensive movement of clans in search of pastures. There was a unification and consolidation of individual clans into tribes of significant numbers.

Large cultural communities began to emerge. Scientists believe that these communities corresponded to the linguistic families from which came the peoples who currently inhabit our country. The largest language family is Indo-European. It took shape on the territory of modern Iran and Asia Minor, and spread to Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia, and to the region of the Hindustan Peninsula. Subsequently, the Indo-European language family split into several branches: in the south and southeast - Iranians, Indians, Tajiks, Armenians, etc.; in the west - the current Germans, French, English, etc.; in the east - the Balts and the distant ancestors of the Slavs.

Another large language family is Finno-Ugric(present-day Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Khanty, Mordovians, etc.) has long occupied the territory from the Kama region to the Trans-Urals, from where its tribes settled to the European North, the Volga region and Western Siberia. Ancestors Turkic peoples lived in Central Asia, from where they began their advance to Eastern Europe and further to the west. Peoples have lived in the mountain gorges of the North Caucasus since the Bronze Age to the present day. Iberian-Caucasian language family. The Koryaks, Aleuts, Eskimos and other peoples settled in the territory of Eastern Siberia and Northeast Asia and have lived here to this day. The origin of peoples (ethnogenesis) is one of the complex issues of science; This is a long process, taking several millennia.

2. The most ancient states on the territory of Russia

By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. archaeologists attribute the separation of the Proto-Slavs from the Indo-European tribes. It was a group of related tribes; the monuments belonging to them can be traced from the Oder in the west to the Carpathians in eastern Europe.

The process of decomposition of the primitive communal system in different regions of Eurasia did not take place simultaneously. In the southern regions, the decomposition of the primitive communal system occurred earlier, which led to the emergence of slave states in Central Asia and Transcaucasia, in the Volga region.

The most ancient states on the territory of our country. The first slave-owning civilizations on the globe arose back in the Bronze Age in a zone with a favorable climate stretching from the Mediterranean to China: the despotisms of the Ancient East, Greece, Rome, India and China. Slavery existed as the dominant form of organization of life on a world-historical scale until the 3rd-5th centuries. n. e.

Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and the Black Sea region were the outlying lands of the slaveholding world. The history of these regions should be considered in connection with the largest state formations of antiquity. On the territory of Transcaucasia, Central Asia and the Black Sea region, large states emerged that influenced the course of world history.

To the north of the flourishing slave-owning civilizations of antiquity, numerous nomadic tribes lived on the territory of the Northern Black Sea region, experiencing the stage of decomposition of the primitive communal system. This process took place most quickly among the Iranian-speaking Scythians, where a class society took shape. The father of history, Herodotus (5th century BC), called the entire population living north of the Black and Azov Seas Scythians. It is possible that the Scythians also included part of the Slavs who lived in Middle Transnistria (Scythian plowmen, or Borysthenes, from the ancient name of the Dnieper - Borysthenes). Since those times, our language has preserved words borrowed from Iranian - god, axe, dog, etc.

The Scythians were characterized by the development of patriarchal (domestic) slavery associated with primitive communal relations. The property stratification among the Scythians reached significant proportions, as evidenced by the treasures found in the burial mounds of the Scythian kings.

In the VI-IV centuries. BC e. The Scythians united into a powerful tribal union. In the 3rd century. BC e. on its basis a strong Scythian state emerged with its capital in Scythian Naples (Simferopol region). During excavations of Scythian Naples, archaeologists discovered significant reserves of grain. Scythian farmers grew “the best wheat in the world” (Herodotus). Grain from Scythia was exported to Greece.

Intermediaries in the grain trade were Greek cities - slave states on the Black Sea coast. The most famous of them were Olbia (near Nikolaev), Chersonesos (in the territory of present-day Sevastopol), Panticapaeum (Kerch), Pitius (Pitsunda), Gorgippia (Anapa), Dio-skurada (Sukhumi), Fasis (Poti), Tanais (near Rostov-on-Don), Kerkinitida (Evpatoria), etc.

The cities of the Northern Black Sea region largely copied the structure and way of life of the Greek world. Ancient slavery, in contrast to slavery in eastern despotism and patriarchal slavery of peoples who were at the stage of disintegration of the primitive communal system, was based on a high level of development of commodity production.

Active maritime trade stimulated specialization of production. Large land latifundias emerged that produced grain, wine, and oil. The craft has developed significantly. As a result of the wars, the number of slaves increased, which all free citizens had the right to own.

Almost all the city-states of the Black Sea region were slave-owning republics. Free citizens played a big role in governing the country in ancient states. Behind the fortress wall rose majestic temples, residential and public buildings.

Through convenient harbors, Greek ships carried grain, wine, and oil in amphorae from the Black Sea region, produced by the labor of slaves or purchased from neighboring tribes. Slaves were also exported. Half of the bread that the Athenians ate was brought from Panticapaeum (Kerch). In the 5th century BC e. Panticapaeum became the center of a large slave-holding power - the Bosporus Kingdom (5th century BC - 4th century AD).

The Bosporan kingdom waged continuous wars with neighboring nomadic peoples. In 107 BC. e. In the Bosporus there was an uprising of artisans, peasants, and slaves under the leadership of Savmak. Savmak was proclaimed king of the Bosporus. With the help of the troops of Mithridates, king of Pontus (a state in Asia Minor), the uprising was suppressed, and Savmak was executed. The Savmak uprising is the first known major uprising of the masses on the territory of our country.

In the first centuries of our era, the slave-holding city-states of the Black Sea region became dependent on Rome. By the 3rd century. n. e. The crisis of the slave system clearly manifested itself, and in the 4th-5th centuries. n. e. The slave-holding powers fell under the onslaught of the Goths and Huns.

Slave labor became unprofitable during the transition to iron tools. The invasion of barbarian tribes completed the fall of slave-owning civilization.

While in the most favorable climatic zone of the Earth, back in the Bronze Age, slave-owning civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean, Western and Central Asia, India, and China developed, peoples who were still at the stage of the primitive communal system lived to the north and south of them.

The transition of these peoples to a class society was facilitated by the beginning of the manufacture of iron tools (at the turn of the 1st millennium AD). The widespread occurrence of iron deposits in the form of bog ores, its low cost compared to bronze, and the higher productivity of iron tools led to the displacement of bronze and stone products.

The use of iron gave a huge impetus to the development of productive forces. More intensive clearing of forests for agriculture became possible, and land cultivation improved. The use of more advanced iron tools by artisans led to the separation of crafts from agriculture. Craftsmen began to make products not only to order, but also for exchange, which meant the emergence of simple commodity production.

The use of iron caused a transformation of social relations both among peoples who lived under conditions of slavery, and among those tribes who were at the stage of a primitive communal system. The development of productive forces among primitive tribes contributed to the growth of production and the emergence of certain surpluses, which led to the emergence of private property and the decomposition of primitive communal relations. As in the Bronze Age, wars and robberies significantly accelerated the process of property differentiation.

The widespread occurrence of iron in our country dates back to the 1st millennium BC. e. The advancement of agriculture to the north from the warm climate zone led to the fact that on the lands where our distant ancestors, the Slavs, lived, prerequisites for the emergence of private property also began to appear; a class society arose, which required the organization of social relations, and, as a natural result, a state took shape.

3. Eastern Slavs in the era of transition to statehood

The ancestors of the Slavs (Proto-Slavs) can presumably be found among the Bronze Age tribes that inhabited the basins of the Odra, Vistula, and Dnieper rivers (Central and Eastern Europe). The neighbors of the Proto-Slavs were the ancestors of the Germanic tribes in the northwest, the ancestors of the Baltic tribes in the north, and the Proto-Iranian (Scythian) tribes in the south and southeast. From time to time, the Proto-Slavs came into contact with the northeastern Finno-Ugric tribes and in the southwest with the Thracian ones.

In terms of their language, the Proto-Slavs belonged to a large family of so-called Indo-European peoples who inhabited Europe and part of Asia up to and including India. During the 1st millennium BC. The Proto-Slavs settled in different directions from their historical “ancestral home,” which subsequently predetermined not only their separation from the vast Indo-European massif, but also the later division into East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic branches.

In the first centuries of our era, probably several hundred Slavic agricultural tribes already lived on the vast forest and forest-steppe lands of Eastern Europe. Ancient authors I - VI centuries. AD, later Byzantine and Arab sources call these tribes Wends, Antes and Slavs themselves. From written references and the rich archaeological heritage, today quite a lot is known about the way of life of the Eastern Slavs, their social system, way of life and beliefs.

VI-IX centuries in the history of East Slavic tribes following B.A. Rybakov can certainly be defined as the period of the third rise. In its depths the prerequisites for the emergence of a powerful early feudal state - Kievan Rus, which united half of the East Slavic tribes - matured.

Just like all Slavic tribes, the Eastern Slavs in the VI-IX centuries. were at the stage of transformation of communal relations into early feudal ones. This process was strengthened by the powerful migration processes of the preceding period of the Great Migration, as a result of which the contacts of the Eastern Slavs with the tribes, peoples and states surrounding them strengthened; there was interpenetration and mutual enrichment of different cultures.

The main written source that tells us about the final period of the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs is the Tale of Bygone Years. This is how Nestor presents it, emphasizing in every possible way the ethnic community of the Slavic world.

After a long time, writes Nestor, the Slavs settled along the Danube, where now the land is Hungarian and Bulgarian. From those Slavs the Slavs spread throughout the land and were called by their names from the places where they sat. So some, having come, sat down on the river in the name of Morava and were called Moravians, while others called themselves Czechs. And here are the same Slavs: white Croats and Serbs and Horutans. When the Volochs attacked the Danube Slavs and settled among them and oppressed them, these Slavs came and sat on the Vistula and were called Poles, and from those Poles came the Poles, other Poles - Luticians, others - Mazovshans, others - Pomeranians.

Also, these Slavs came and settled along the Dnieper and were called Polyans, and others - Drevlyans, because they settled in the forests, and still others settled between Pripyat and Dvina and were called Dregovichs. Others settled along the Dvina and were called Polotsk residents, after the river flowing into the Dvina, named Polota, from which they received the name Polotsk residents.

The same Slavs who settled near Lake Ilmen were called by their own name - Slavs, and built a city and called it Novgorod. And others sat along the Desna, and the Seim, and the Sula, and were called northerners. And so the Slavic people dispersed, and after their name the letter was called “Slavic”.

As we can see, the chronicler very accurately defines the area of ​​settlement of the Eastern Slavs, indicating the territories inhabited by individual tribes, or rather, tribal unions (Drevlyans, Polyans, Dregovichs, Polotsk). Nestor's information was generally confirmed by subsequent archaeological and linguistic research. Each of the tribal unions of the Eastern Slavs had elements of statehood in the form of princely power.

But these were not yet principalities, but proto-state formations under the authority of tribal leaders. Some of the names of tribal unions, as we see, reflect the geographical and natural features of the territories they inhabit. The glades lived in the fields, the Drevlyans lived in the forests, the northerners lived in the northeast of the glades, etc.

It can be assumed that the toponymic roots of the names of the listed tribal unions indicate the predominance of territorial unity over clan ties. Hence, it seems logical that the leading role of this group of Slavic tribes (primarily the Polyans and Ros, so called from the Ros River, a tributary of the Middle Dnieper), in the creation of Kievan Rus, as, apparently, the most developed from the point of view of elements of statehood. The name of the second large group of tribal unions came from the name of the clan of tribal leaders, which indicated the predominance of clan rather than territorial ties (Radimichi, Krivichi, Vyatichi, Tivertsy, etc.).

The view of L.N. is somewhat different. Gumilyov on the problem of the genesis of statehood and the origin of the name of Rus'. He believed, not without some reason, that the Slavs and the Rus (or, according to various sources, the Rutens, the Dews, the Rugs) were different peoples. The scientist was inclined to see in the Rus a tribe of ancient Germans, from whom Rurik was related.

However, this plot is already beyond the scope of this chapter. It is important for us to note that by the time the Slavs formed statehood, warlike tribes, most likely of Germanic origin, lived on the borders of their territories. Reconstructing the relationship between the Slavs and the warlike Rus, Gumilyov wrote:

For the Slavs, it was a disaster to be in the neighborhood of the ancient Rus, who made it their business to raid their neighbors. At one time, the Rus, defeated by the Goths, fled partly to the east, partly to the south - to the lower reaches of the Danube, where they became dependent on the Heruls of Odoacer (the further fate of this branch is unknown to us). Part of the Rus, who went to the east, occupied three cities, which became support bases for their further campaigns. These were Cuyaba (Kyiv), Arzania (Beloozero?) and Staraya Rusa. The Rus robbed their neighbors, killed their men, and sold the captured children and women to slave traders.

One way or another, Gumilev’s reconstruction allows us to conclude that the Slavs were in a state of constant military action, and this circumstance, as we have repeatedly noted, accelerated the process of formation of elements of statehood.

Apparently, in the VI-VII centuries. In the Middle Dnieper region, a large union of forest-steppe Slavic tribes formed, which gave the name to Rus'. Initially, according to Nestor’s data, it included the Polyans, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Polochans and Slovenes. Over time, this union advanced north all the way to the Baltic and south to the Black Sea coast, to the west and east, including some non-Slavic tribes, which Nestor lists as “Chud, Merya, Ves, Muroma, Cheremis, Mordovians, Perm, Pechera, Yam” , Lithuania.." By the 10th century The name Rus is established in relation to the vast territory of the Kievan state.

Much later, the separation of the Ukrainian and Belarusian East Slavic peoples, related to the Russian, occurred, which was a reflection of the ethnic characteristics of the tribal cultures of the Slavs that made up Kievan Rus, as well as their border position, and the known difference in historical destinies.

Of considerable interest is the history of the emergence of the future capital of Rus' - Kyiv. This is how the chronicler talks about it:

And there were three brothers: one named Kiy, the other - Shchek and the third - Khoriv, ​​and their sister was Lybid. Kiy sat on the mountain where Borichev now rises, and Shchek sat on the mountain that is now called Shchekovitsa, and Khoriv on the third mountain, which was nicknamed Khorivitsa after him. And they built a town in the name of their elder brother and called it Kyiv. There was a forest all around and a large forest, and they caught animals there, and those men were wise and sensible, and they were called glades, from them glades are still in Kyiv.

Archaeological and linguistic data indicate a great diversity of the East Slavic world, which included, according to various estimates, in the VI-IX centuries. up to 200 ethnically close tribes, gradually consolidated into tribal unions and the state. All the more valuable is Nestor's story about the ancestral home of Kievan Rus - the Principality of Kiya, which apparently arose in the second half of the 6th - early 7th centuries.

An important source of information about the life, occupation, and culture of the Eastern Slavs during the transition to statehood is the writings of Byzantine, Arab, Central Asian, and Persian authors.

Based on the totality of data, we can say that by the time of the emergence of Kievan Rus, the Eastern Slavs had experienced significant shifts in the development of basic sectors of the economy: agriculture, crafts (blacksmithing, pottery, tanning, jewelry, etc.), urban planning, traditional crafts (hunting, fishing, beekeeping, etc.); Foreign trade contacts have become more frequent, etc. At the same time, there were processes of property stratification, the widespread allocation of tribal nobility, which seized the levers of control of tribes and their associations (the Principality of Kiya), along with the preserved veche institutions of collective governance.

Period VI-IX centuries. completes the process of separating the Eastern Slavs into an independent ethnic group of peoples. By the time of the emergence of Kievan Rus, numerous Slavic tribes were not only united into large tribal unions, but also had experience in state life.

Some, although not indisputable, idea of ​​the scale of the East Slavic world is given by the authors of the encyclopedia “Peoples of Russia”. According to expert estimates, they note, in the Old Russian state at the time of its emergence there were 3.0-3.5 million people. Thus, the ethnogenesis of the Eastern Slavs took a long period, the beginning of which can be dated back to the 1st millennium BC. The extreme complexity of the process of formation of an ethnos and the lack of necessary data make it possible to judge its progress only in general terms.

It is obvious that over the course of a long two- and a half-thousand-year era, a pan-Slavic ethnic group of peoples emerged, an inextricable part of which are the modern Russian, Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.

Conclusion

Among different peoples in different regions of the Earth, the appearance of certain tools and forms of social life did not occur simultaneously. There was a process of formation of man (anthropogenesis, from the Greek "anthropos" - man, "genesis" - origin) and human society (sociogenesis, from the Latin "societas" - society and the Greek "genesis" - origin). About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of the territory of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains were formed).

The emergence of the glacier affected the development of mankind. The harsh climate forced man to use natural fire, and then to extract it. This helped a person survive in extreme cold conditions. People learned to make piercing and cutting objects from stone and bone (stone knives, spear tips, scrapers, needles, etc.).

Humanity received a new impetus in the historical development by mastering the production of metal. On the territory of our country, the development of those tribes that lived near deposits of copper and tin accelerated. By the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. archaeologists attribute the separation of the Proto-Slavs from the Indo-European tribes. It was a group of related tribes; the monuments belonging to them can be traced from the Oder in the west to the Carpathians in eastern Europe. In terms of their language, the Proto-Slavs belonged to a large family of so-called Indo-European peoples who inhabited Europe and part of Asia up to India inclusive. During the 1st millennium BC. The Proto-Slavs settled in different directions from their historical “ancestral home,” which subsequently predetermined not only their separation from the vast Indo-European massif, but also the later division into East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic branches.

Throughout the VI-VIII centuries. AD profound changes occurred in the social structure of the East Slavic tribes. The collectivist basis for the life of traditional primitive communities began to gradually collapse. The economic independence of individual families made the existence of firmly Slavic clans unnecessary. Household management became possible for individual families, no longer united on the basis of kinship, but on the basis of a common economic life. Such families formed a neighboring or territorial community. Within such a community, the institution of private property emerged and developed. The concentration of private property was most often associated with representatives of the tribal elite. It was this social stratum that received more opportunities for enrichment as a result of the distribution of surpluses within the community and in the course of waging successful wars against neighboring tribes and states.

The development of agriculture, the separation of crafts from agriculture, the collapse of clan ties within communities, the growth of property inequality, the development of private property - all this prepared the conditions for the emergence of exploitation of man by man, the formation of classes and - as a natural consequence of this process - the creation of a state-organized society.

1. Averyanov K.A. From Ancient Rus' to New Russia // Questions of History. – 2006. - No. 3.

2. Alekseev S.V. History of the Slavs in the V - VIII centuries / Moscow. humanist University; East-enlighten. about. M.:, 2004.

3. Danilevsky N.Ya. Russia and Europe: a look at the cultural and political relations of the Slavic world to the German-Roman world / N. Ya. Danilevsky. - 6th ed. - St. Petersburg: “Glagol”, 1995.

4. History of Russia. Russia in world civilization. - M., 1998.

5. History of Russia: textbook / A.S. Orlov, V.A. Georgiev, N.G. Georgieva, T.A. Sivokhina. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: Prospekt, 2004.

6. Mikhailova N.V. Domestic history: Textbook / N.V. Mikhailova. - 2nd ed., revised. and additional - M.: IMC GUK MIA of Russia, 2002.

Polyakov A.N. Education of ancient Russian civilization // Questions of history. – 2005. - No. 3.

7. Russia in world history / ed. V.S. Powder. – M.: Logos, 2003. Semennikova L.I. Russia in the world community of civilizations. Textbook for universities. - Bryansk, 1999.

8. Fedorov O.A. Russian history. XX century: textbook for universities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia / O. A. Fedorov. - Orel: OYUI Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, 1999.

9. Averyanov K.A. From Ancient Rus' to New Russia // Questions of History. – 2006. - No. 3.

10. Alekseev S.V. History of the Slavs in the V - VIII centuries / Moscow. humanist University; East-enlighten. about. M.:, 2004.

11. Danilevsky N.Ya. Russia and Europe: a look at the cultural and political relations of the Slavic world to the German-Roman world / N. Ya. Danilevsky. - 6th ed. - St. Petersburg: “Glagol”, 1995.

12. Polyakov A.N. Education of ancient Russian civilization // Questions of history. – 2005. - No. 3.

13. Russia in world history / ed. V.S. Powder. – M.: Logos, 2003.

Paleolithic - ancient Stone Age (from the Greek “palaios” - ancient, “lithos” stone). Accordingly, “mesos” is average, “neos” is new; hence the Mesolithic, Neolithic.

Introduction

The age of the human community is estimated at 35-40 thousand years (it must be borne in mind that man appeared on planet Earth much earlier). At the dawn of history, human communities, regardless of the region of residence, began from the same starting position, which is commonly called the primitive communal system.

This system was characterized by extraordinary similarity throughout the entire territory of human habitation; uniformity of social structures, work practices, beliefs, everyday culture, etc. But throughout history, humanity has arrived at strikingly unequal results. In the modern world we have a colossal variety of social structures, political systems, levels and types of economic development, spiritual, artistic culture, etc.

History as a science about the development of human society in all its diversity is a set of various actions, actions of individuals, human groups, consisting of a certain relationship, making up human society. Therefore, the subject of the study of history is the actions of individuals, humanity, and the totality of relationships in society.

According to the breadth of study of the object, history is divided into: the history of the world as a whole (world or universal history), the history of continents (for example, the history of Asia and Africa, the history of Australia), the history of individual countries and peoples or groups of peoples (for example, the history of Russia, the history of southern and western Slavs).

Historical science has gone through several stages of development as society develops, summarizing the experience of many human generations, enriching itself with new historical facts. Its basis is the collection, systematization and generalization of facts. Branches of historical knowledge are distinguished: civil history, political history, history of state and law, history of public administration, economic history, military history, history of religion, social history, history of culture, music, language, literature.

Historical sciences also include ethnography, which studies the life and culture of peoples, and archeology, which studies history using material sources of antiquity - tools, household utensils, jewelry, etc., and entire complexes - settlements, burial grounds, treasures, etc.

Auxiliary historical disciplines have a narrower subject of study, study it in detail and contribute to a deeper understanding of the historical process as a whole.

Periodization of the earliest history of mankind

Modern science has come to the conclusion that all the diversity of current space objects was formed about 20 billion years ago. The Sun, one of the many stars in our galaxy, arose 10 billion years ago. Our Earth, an ordinary planet in the solar system, is 4.6 billion years old. It is now generally accepted that man began to separate from the animal world about 3 million years ago.

The periodization of human history at the stage of the primitive communal system is quite complex. Several variants are known. The archaeological diagram is most often used. In accordance with it, the history of mankind is divided into three large stages, depending on the material from which the tools used by man were made. Stone Age: 3 million years ago - end of the 3rd millennium BC. e.; Bronze Age: end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. - I millennium BC e.; Iron Age - from the 1st millennium BC. e.

Among different peoples in different regions of the Earth, the appearance of certain tools and forms of social life did not occur simultaneously. There was a process of formation of man (anthropogenesis, from the Greek "anthropos" - man, "genesis" - origin) and human society (sociogenesis, from the Latin "societas" - society and the Greek "genesis" - origin).

The most ancient ancestors of modern man resembled apes, who, unlike animals, were able to produce tools. In the scientific literature, this type of ape-man is called homo habilis - a skilled man. The further evolution of habilis led to the appearance 1.5-1.6 million years ago of the so-called Pithecanthropus (from the Greek “pithekos” - monkey, “anthropos” - man), or archanthropes (from the Greek “achaios” - ancient). Archanthropes were already people. 300-200 thousand years ago, archanthropes were replaced by a more developed type of person - paleoanthropes, or Neanderthals (according to the place of their first discovery in the Neanderthal area in Germany).

During the Early Stone Age - Paleolithic Paleolithic - ancient Stone Age (from the Greek "palaios" - ancient, "lithos" stone). Accordingly, “mesos” is average, “neos” is new; hence the Mesolithic, Neolithic. (about 700 thousand years ago) people entered the territory of Eastern Europe. Settlement came from the south. Archaeologists find traces of the presence of ancient people in the Crimea (Kiik-Koba caves), in Abkhazia (near Sukhumi-Yashtukh), in Armenia (Satani-Dar hill near Yerevan), as well as in Central Asia (southern Kazakhstan, Tashkent region). In the Zhitomir region and on the Dniester, traces of people being here 500-300 thousand years ago were found.

About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of the territory of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains were formed).

The emergence of the glacier affected the development of mankind. The harsh climate forced man to use natural fire, and then to extract it. This helped a person survive in extreme cold conditions. People learned to make piercing and cutting objects from stone and bone (stone knives, spear tips, scrapers, needles, etc.).

Obviously, the emergence of articulate speech and the clan organization of society dates back to this time. The first, still extremely vague, religious ideas began to emerge, as evidenced by the appearance of artificial burials.

The difficulties of the struggle for existence, fear of the forces of nature and the inability to explain them were the reasons for the emergence of the pagan religion. Paganism was the deification of the forces of nature, animals, plants, good and evil spirits. This huge complex of primitive beliefs, customs, and rituals preceded the spread of world religions (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, etc.).

During the Late Paleolithic period (35-10 thousand years ago), the melting of the glacier ended, and a climate similar to the modern one was established. The use of fire for cooking, the further development of tools, as well as the first attempts to regulate relations between the sexes significantly changed the physical type of man. It was at this time that the transformation of a skilled man (homo habilis) into a reasonable man (homo sapiens) dates back to this time. Based on the place where it was first found, it is called Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon area in France). At the same time, obviously, as a result of adaptation to the environment in the conditions of the existence of sharp differences in climate between different regions of the globe, the existing races (Caucasoid, Negroid and Mongoloid) were formed.

The processing of stone and especially bone and antler was further developed. Scientists sometimes call the Late Paleolithic the “Bone Age.” Finds of this time include daggers, spearheads, harpoons, eyed needles, awls, etc. Traces of the first long-term settlements were discovered. Not only caves, but also huts and dugouts built by man served as housing. Remains of jewelry have been found that make it possible to reproduce the clothing of that time.

During the Late Paleolithic period, the primitive herd was replaced by a higher form of social organization - the clan community. A clan community is an association of people of the same clan who have collective property and run a household based on the age and gender division of labor in the absence of exploitation.

Before the advent of pair marriage, kinship was established through the maternal line. The woman at this time played a leading role in the household, which determined the first stage of the clan system - matriarchy, which lasted until the time of the spread of metal.

Many works of art created in the Late Paleolithic era have reached us. Picturesque colorful rock carvings of animals (mammoths, bison, bears, deer, horses, etc.) that people of that time hunted, as well as figurines depicting a female deity, were discovered in caves and sites in France, Italy, and the Southern Urals ( famous Kapova Cave).

In the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age (10-8 thousand years ago), new advances were made in stone processing. The tips and blades of knives, spears, and harpoons were then made as a kind of inserts from thin flint plates. A stone ax was used to process wood. One of the most important achievements was the invention of the bow, a long-range weapon that made it possible to more successfully hunt animals and birds. People learned to make snares and hunting traps.

Fishing was added to hunting and gathering. People have been observed trying to swim on logs. The domestication of animals began: the dog was tamed, followed by the pig. Eurasia was finally populated: man reached the shores of the Baltic and Pacific Oceans. At the same time, as many researchers believe, people came from Siberia through the Chukotka Peninsula to America.

Neolithic - the last period of the Stone Age (7-5 ​​thousand years ago) is characterized by the appearance of grinding and drilling of stone tools (axes, adzes, hoes). Handles were attached to objects. Since this time, pottery has been known. People began to build boats, learned to weave nets for fishing, and weave.

Significant changes in technology and forms of production at this time are sometimes called the "Neolithic Revolution". Its most important result was the transition from gathering, from an appropriating economy to a producing one. People were no longer afraid to break away from their habitable places; they could settle more freely in search of better living conditions, exploring new lands.

Depending on the natural and climatic conditions, various types of economic activity have developed in Eastern Europe and Siberia. Cattle-breeding tribes lived in the steppe zone from the middle Dnieper to Altai. Farmers settled in the territories of modern Ukraine, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, and southern Siberia.

Hunting and fishing was typical for the northern forest regions of the European part and Siberia. The historical development of individual regions was uneven. Cattle-breeding and agricultural tribes developed more quickly. Agriculture gradually penetrated into the steppe regions.

Among the sites of farmers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, one can distinguish Neolithic settlements in Turkmenistan (near Ashgabat), Armenia (near Yerevan), etc. In Central Asia in the 4th millennium BC. e. The first artificial irrigation systems were created.

On the East European Plain, the oldest agricultural culture was Tripolye, named after the village of Tripolye near Kyiv. Settlements of Trypillians were discovered by archaeologists in the territory from the Dnieper to the Carpathians. They were large settlements of farmers and cattle breeders, whose dwellings were located in a circle.

During excavations of these villages, grains of wheat, barley, and millet were discovered. Wooden sickles with flint inserts, stone grain grinders and other items were found. The Trypillian culture dates back to the Copper-Stone Age - the Eneolithic (III-I millennium BC).

Humanity received a new impetus in the historical development by mastering the production of metal. On the territory of our country, the development of those tribes that lived near deposits of copper and tin accelerated. On the territory of Eurasia, such tribes lived in the regions of the North Caucasus, Central Asia, the Urals and Siberia.

The transition to metal tools led to the separation of pastoral and agricultural tribes. The role of men - shepherds and farmers - in production has increased. Matriarchy was replaced by patriarchy. Cattle breeding entailed even more intensive movement of clans in search of pastures. There was a unification and consolidation of individual clans into tribes of significant numbers.

Large cultural communities began to emerge. Scientists believe that these communities corresponded to the linguistic families from which came the peoples who currently inhabit our country. The largest language family is Indo-European. It took shape on the territory of modern Iran and Asia Minor, and spread to Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia Minor and Central Asia, and to the region of the Hindustan Peninsula. Subsequently, the Indo-European language family split into several branches: in the south and southeast - Iranians, Indians, Tajiks, Armenians, etc.; in the west - the current Germans, French, English, etc.; in the east - the Balts and the distant ancestors of the Slavs.

Another large language family is Finno-Ugric(present-day Finns, Estonians, Karelians, Khanty, Mordovians, etc.) has long occupied the territory from the Kama region to the Trans-Urals, from where its tribes settled to the European North, the Volga region and Western Siberia. Ancestors Turkic peoples lived in Central Asia, from where they began their advance to Eastern Europe and further to the west. Peoples have lived in the mountain gorges of the North Caucasus since the Bronze Age to the present day. Iberian-Caucasian language family. The Koryaks, Aleuts, Eskimos and other peoples settled in the territory of Eastern Siberia and Northeast Asia and have lived here to this day. The origin of peoples (ethnogenesis) is one of the complex issues of science; This is a long process, taking several millennia.

The oldest stage of human history.

Natural and social in man and the human community of the primitive era. Changes in lifestyle and forms of social connections.

The history of mankind as a whole is characterized by the increasing dynamics of changes occurring both in various spheres of social life and in the complex of relationships between society and nature.

Traditional for the materialist traditions of European science was the consideration of history from the point of view of man's conquest of nature. It really acts as a source of resources for the development of civilization. At the same time, a person is in constant interaction with his environment, he himself is its creation and an integral part.

Human society and natural communities

The most ancient stone tools appeared about 2.5-3 million years ago. Consequently, at that time, creatures with the rudiments of intelligence already lived in East Africa.

The origin of the mind is explained by the action of natural laws of evolutionary development, interspecies struggle for survival. The best chances in this struggle were those species that, to a greater extent than others, could ensure their existence in the changing conditions of the natural environment.

Wildlife has demonstrated an infinite variety of both dead-end and viable evolutionary options. One of them was associated with the formation of the rudiments of social behavior that many animal species demonstrate. By uniting in herds (flocks), they could defend themselves and protect their cubs from stronger opponents, and obtain more food. In the interspecific and sometimes intraspecific struggle between herds that needed similar food, those who had better developed communication, the ability to warn each other about the approach of the enemy, and better coordinate their actions during the hunt won. Gradually, over hundreds of thousands of years, among human predecessors, primitive sound signals expressing emotions began to acquire an increasingly meaningful character. Speech was formed, inseparable from the ability for abstract, abstract thinking, which implied a complication of the structure of the brain.

Thus, the emergence and improvement of speech and abstract thinking became the most important factor in the development of the human race itself. It is no coincidence that each new step in the stage of human evolution was associated, on the one hand, with the development of the brain, and on the other, with the improvement of hunting and fishing tools.

The accumulation of knowledge and practical skills in its application has provided humans with decisive advantages in the struggle for survival compared to other species. Armed with clubs, spears, and acting together, primitive hunters could cope with any predator. The possibilities for obtaining food have expanded significantly. Thanks to warm clothing, mastery of fire, and acquisition of the skill of preserving food (drying, smoking), people were able to settle over a vast territory and felt relative independence from the climate and vagaries of the weather.

The accumulation of knowledge was not a constantly developing, progressive process. Many human communities perished due to hunger, disease, and attacks by hostile tribes, and the knowledge they acquired was completely or partially lost.

Paleolithic

Approximately 1.0 million - 700 thousand years ago, a period begins that is called the Early Paleolithic (from the Greek “paleo” - “ancient” and “lithos” - “stone”). Excavations in France, near the villages of Chelles and Saint-Achelles, have revealed the remains of caves and ancient settlements, where successive generations of the predecessors of modern man lived for tens of thousands of years. Subsequently, such finds were discovered in other places.

Archaeological research has made it possible to trace how tools of labor and hunting have changed. Tools made of bone and sharpened stone (points, scrapers, axes) became more and more sophisticated and durable. The physical type of a person changed: he became more and more adapted to moving on the ground without the help of his hands, and the volume of his brain increased.

The most important achievement of the Early Paleolithic was mastering the ability to use fire (approximately 200–300 thousand years ago) to heat a home, prepare food, and protect against predators.

The time of the Early Paleolithic ends with a period of sharp changes in the natural conditions of existence of primitive people. The onset of glaciers began, approximately 100 thousand years ago, covering almost the entire territory of Russia, Central and Western Europe. Many herds of primitive Neanderthal hunters were unable to adapt to new living conditions. The struggle for diminishing sources of food intensified between them.

By the end of the Early Paleolithic (approximately 30-20 thousand years BC) in Eurasia and Africa, Neanderthals completely disappeared. The modern, Cro-Magnon type of man has established himself everywhere.

During the same period of time, under the influence of differences in natural conditions, the main races of people emerged.

The Mesolithic era (from the Greek “mesos” - “middle” and “lithos” - “stone”) covers the period from the 20th to the 9th-8th millennium BC. It is characterized by a new change in natural conditions, which become more favorable: glaciers are retreating, new territories become available for settlement.

During this period, the Earth's population did not exceed 10 million people.

During the Mesolithic era, rock painting arose and became widespread. In the remains of dwellings of that time, archaeologists find figurines depicting people, animals, beads and other decorations. All this speaks of the onset of a new stage in the knowledge of the world. Abstract symbols and generalized concepts that emerged with the development of speech take on a kind of independent life in drawings and figurines. Many of them were associated with rituals and rites of primitive magic. The large role of chance in people's lives gave rise to attempts to improve the situation in hunting and in life. This is how belief in omens, favorable or unfavorable, arose. Fetishism appeared - the belief that some objects (talismans) have special magical powers. Among them were animal figurines, stones, and amulets that supposedly brought good luck to their owner. Beliefs arose, for example, that a warrior who drank the blood of an enemy or ate his heart acquired special strength. Hunting, treating a patient, and choosing a mate (boy or girl) were preceded by ritual actions, among which dancing and singing were of particular importance. People of the Mesolithic era knew how to make percussion, wind, string and plucked musical instruments.

Particular importance was attached to funeral rituals, which became more and more complex over time. In ancient burials, archaeologists find jewelry and tools that people used during life, and food supplies. This proves that already at the dawn of history, beliefs in the existence of an other world, where a person lives after death, were widespread.

Faith in higher powers, which could both help and harm, gradually strengthened. It was assumed that they could be appeased with a sacrifice, most often with part of the loot, which should be left in a certain place. Some tribes practiced human sacrifice.

It was believed that some people have great abilities to communicate with higher powers and spirits. Gradually, along with the leaders (they usually became the strongest, most successful, experienced hunters), priests (shamans, sorcerers) began to play a noticeable role in the life of primitive tribes. They usually knew the healing properties of herbs, had some hypnotic abilities and had a great influence on their fellow tribesmen.

The time of completion of the Mesolithic and the transition to a new stage of human development can only be approximately determined. Among many tribes of the equatorial zone in Africa, South America, on the islands of Southeast Asia and the Pacific Ocean, among the aborigines of Australia, and some peoples of the North, the type of economic activity and culture has remained virtually unchanged since the Mesolithic era. At the same time, in the 9th-8th millennia BC. In some areas of the world, the transition to agriculture and livestock breeding begins. This time of the Neolithic revolution (from the Greek “neos” - “new” and “litos” - “stone”) marks the transition from the appropriating to the producing type of economic activity.

Human and nature

Man around the 10th millennium BC. established itself on all continents as the dominant species and, as such, ideally adapted to the conditions of its habitat. However, further improvement of hunting tools led to the extermination of many species of animals, a reduction in their numbers, which undermined the foundations of the existence of primitive people. Hunger and related diseases, the intensification of the struggle between tribes for increasingly poor hunting territories, a decline in the human population - such was the price for progress.

This first crisis in the development of civilization in history was solved in two ways:

The tribes living in the harsh climate of the North, desert areas, and jungles seemed to freeze in their development and knowledge of the world around them. Gradually, a system of prohibitions (taboos) developed that limited hunting and food consumption. This prevented population growth, hampered changes in lifestyle and the development of knowledge.

In other cases, there was a breakthrough to a qualitatively new level of development. People began to consciously influence the natural environment and transform it. The development of agriculture and cattle breeding occurred only in favorable natural conditions.