What does primitive society mean? Ancient history 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 the main one.
The humanoid creatures that appeared in Africa were very different from modern man 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 they separate groups 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 of the 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 modern humans.
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 formation of man as a species there was an 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 tribal 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 the establishment of social relations was the 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.”
On the emergence of abstract thinking in Late Paleolithic Paleolithic art also testifies to this. 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 on the territory of 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 fireplaces in a 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 mankind is characterized low level development of productive forces, their slow improvement, collective appropriation of natural resources and production results (primarily 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.
In fact, the appearance of the first australopithecus marked the emergence of 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 the harsh conditions of the Ice Age, with the intensification of the labor activity of primitive man in his difficult struggle for existence, new skills rapidly appeared, tools were improved, and new social forms were 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 the planet and created a harsh climate that affected the flora and fauna, inevitably divides history 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 human: in pre-glacial - archaeological trails(pithecanthropus, synanthropus, etc.), during the glacial period - pstheoan-tropes(Neanderthal man), at the end 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.
Preface
It is believed that from the depths of centuries there has been a flow of human thought, an impulse to master the world, to understand the environment. This “stream” began in the pre-glacial period by unknown geniuses - the discoverers of fire, the first builders, the inventors of the wheel, and then it was joined by the builders of the pyramids, thoughtful scribes and temple scholars Ancient East, philosophers of Hellas, Rome and the Middle Ages, London gentlemen - scientists who formed in the 17th century. Royal Society. Undoubtedly, Francis Bacon was right, who once told humanity: “Knowledge is power!” Knowledge increases the power of a person, saves him from misfortunes, illnesses and troubles, creates numerous opportunities, in particular for space exploration, and also gives acute intellectual pleasure.
This manual will allow students to update, supplement, and systematize their knowledge of world history in preparation for exams. The structure and presentation of factual material are aimed at higher education programs. educational institutions. Taking into account the experience of preparing applicants and students, the authors present the material in such a way as to help students understand the logic of changes in public life, historical process generally. Special attention devoted to issues that are not sufficiently covered in modern textbooks.
Remember famous proverb: “He who controls the past owns the future.”
Life of people in primitive times
Primitive society: chronology, occupations of people
The period of existence of primitive society was the longest in the history of mankind. According to the latest data, it originates at least one and a half million years ago. In Asia and Africa, the first civilizations arose at the turn of the 4th-3rd millennium AD. e., in Europe and America - in the 1st thousand AD. e. Periodization of the history of primitive society is a complex and not yet solved scientific problem.
IN modern science There are several periodizations of primitive society: general (historical), archaeological, anthropological, etc. Of the special periodizations of primitive history, the most important is the archaeological one, which is based on differences in the material and technique of making tools. According to this, the history of primitive society is divided into three periods - stone (from the appearance of man - 3rd millennium AD), bronze (III-i thousand AD) and iron (1st thousand AD). - And Art. AD).
The Stone Age (approximately 3 million years - PI thousand to AD) continued differently in different regions. Some tribes switched to using metal while others remained in the Stone Age stage.
The Stone Age, in turn, is divided into:
Lower Paleolithic (2.5 million-150 thousand years ago);
Middle Paleolithic (150-40 thousand years ago);
Upper Paleolithic (40-10 thousand years ago);
Mesolithic (10-7 thousand years ago);
Neolithic (6-4 thousand years ago);
Chalcolithic (4~3 thousand years ago).
The oldest finds of human ancestors confirm the fact that on the territory of Central and of Eastern Europe complex processes of human evolution took place. Oldest remains ancient man (hominids) were recorded on the territory of the Czech Republic (Přezletice). Using the aleomagnetic method, they are dated to the period 890-760 thousand years ago.
In the 70-80s of the XX century. Ukrainian expedition led by V.M. Gladilina found the remains of a multi-layered site of human ancestors in the area of the village of Korolev (Transcarpathia). Similar sites were discovered in Hungary (Vetescelles). Finds of remains from this period are very fragmentary, more common are finds of tools, especially stone choppers and handaxes, made on the basis of classical Paleolithic technologies.
So, in the Lower Paleolithic era, part of Europe was inhabited by the ancestors of modern man. In anthropology, these ancestors were called Noto Egesiev ("man with a straight gait").
During the Middle Paleolithic era, a population explosion occurred, which led to a sharp increase in the number of attractions. These monuments are associated with such a species of human ancestors as the Neanderthal. Some researchers consider this species to be transitional to modern humans. For Central and Eastern Europe, the number of known settlements increases 70 times compared to the Lower Paleolithic. Almost the entire continental part of Europe was inhabited, with the exception of the north of England, the north of Eastern Europe and Scandinavia.
Neanderthal is a representative of one of the stages of human evolution, who lived from the mid-December era (Riesswurm) until the beginning of the last stage of glaciation (120,000-35,000 years ago). The name comes from the area Neanderthal in Germany. There are many known finds of it in Europe, Asia, and Africa, behind which certain differences, branched branches of evolution and its various stages have been noticed. Neanderthals are characterized by short stature, a slightly inclined figure, a large skull with a brain volume of 1300-1700 cm3, pronounced brow ridges, a sloping forehead, and a poorly defined chin protrusion. The participation of Neanderthals in the formation of modern man is debatable. They lived in small groups, hunting and gathering. They were the creators of the Middle Paleolithic culture (Mousterian). The most famous burial from the Teshik-Tash grotto.
In Ukraine, finds of Neanderthal remains dating back to the late phase (Kiik-Koba, Zaskalna in Crimea). There is evidence of the presence of Neanderthals at the sites of Molodovo (Ukraine), Shali Galovce (Slovakia), Shipka (Moravia), Shubayuk (Hungary). Famous landmarks make it possible to identify local groups that have significant differences in material and spiritual cultural traditions. In Central Europe, this period is characterized by the first discoveries of mines in which flint (Bern, Switzerland), limonite and hematite (Balatonlovas, Hungary) were extracted for industrial activities. Neanderthals used a variety of tools and weapons, not only made of stone, but also of wood, bone and horn.
During the era of the last ice age (the Würm cold snap, which began approximately 70 thousand years ago, the activities of human ancestors became more complex. The onset of glaciers changed the nature economic activity. Some animal species became extinct or moved south, and this led to the emergence of specialized hunting associated with one animal species. Neanderthals hunted cave bear (Northern Black Sea region, Poland, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, Hungary), deer (Germany), bison (Volga region, Kuban, Azov region), mammoth (Dniester region, Hungary), wild donkey and saiga (Crimea). The main food of Neanderthals in Europe was meat. For a group of 20-30 people, 200 kg of meat per week was needed. The need for food contributed to the emergence of hunting using the driven method (animals are driven into natural and artificial traps or at a group of hunters who throw spears or stones). Up to 100 people took part in such hunts.
Primitive hunters - from the beginning of the formation of human society, hunting was one of the main forms of economy. During the Paleolithic period, driven hunting for large animals spread. To do this, large groups of people, shouting with torches in their hands, drove the herd animals to the cliff. Frightened by screams and fire, the rear animals pressed on the front ones and the whole herd was broken, falling from a height. This use of raw materials was very unproductive, since more animals died than were needed for food. During the Mesolithic period, the bow and arrow were invented, which made hunting safer and made it possible to hit small animals and birds from afar. Hunting became more productive, which in turn reduced the amount of game and led to a crisis in the hunting industry. With the introduction of reproducing forms of economy (farming and cattle breeding), hunting begins to play a supporting role in the southern zone and retains its importance in the forest zone.
Depending on new types of activity and way of life, the technology for making tools also changed. It consisted of detailed additional retouching of the working parts of tools and weapons. In cold zones, people learned to make fire, which now protected them from the cold. Not only material culture was developed, but also spiritual culture was born. Based on hunting, the first religious ideas appeared, in particular the cult of the cave bear (Switzerland, Germany). Neanderthal burials record the emergence of knowledge about the other world.
The process of anthropogenesis ends approximately 40 thousand years ago with the formation of a modern type of man and the organization of a tribal community. The person who changed the Neanderthal is called Cro-Magnon. The term "Cro-Magnon" in a purely archaeological sense refers only to people who lived in southwestern France around the Upper Paleolithic era (40-10 thousand years ago). But very often this name is used to refer to the first modern people (Homo sapiens) anywhere on the globe.
Cro-Magnon is the name of a man of the Late Paleolithic period, the direct ancestor of modern man. The name comes from the Cro-Magnon area in France, where a skull and some bones were found in 1868. Unlike the Neanderthal, he was tall (185 - 194 cm), had a larger volume brain (1800 cm3), higher forehead without brow ridges, protruding, narrow nose, clearly defined chin protrusion. Many remains of bones found on different continents indicate differences at this stage of human evolution. Cro-Magnon was engaged in hunting. The collective’s dwellings were caves, grottoes, rock overhangs and structures built from mammoth bones. public organization evidenced by cave paintings and sculptures that had a cult purpose,
During the Upper Paleolithic era in Central and Eastern Europe, tools were constantly improved. There are several archaeological cultures that coexisted for a long time (40-10 thousand years ago). During this period, man invented the bow and arrow. The Upper Paleolithic era is characterized by two types of dwellings: small round and oval huts up to 6 m in diameter with one hearth and a frame made of bones, mammoth tusks or poles (Mezin, Mezhirich, Dobranichivka in Ukraine, Sholvar in Hungary, Elknitsa in Germany) and many hearths houses (about 9 x 2.5 m) - Kostenki (Russia), Wernene (Germany), Pushkari (Ukraine), Dolni Vestonice (Czech Republic).
It was then that the most common form of coexistence became the clan community, which arose in the Middle Paleolithic era. For example, the territory of Hungary (93 thousand sq. km) was inhabited by approximately 74 communities.
community is a form of social (collective) organization of people, characteristic of almost all nations. It arose during the primitive communal system. Its inherent features were common ownership of the means of production and traditional forms self-government. With the development of society, property inequality and private property, the form of the community also changed: clan (matriarchy), family (patriarchy), rural (land). With the formation of large feudal landownership, the community lost its independence, turning into an organization of direct producers dependent on the ruling strata. It collapsed with the development of capitalist relations. The land community remained in Russian Empire by the beginning of the 20th century, in a broad sense, the term “community” is used to refer to a variety of communities: rural societies, city communes, communities, religious societies.
The hunter-gatherers who made up these clan communities formed associations of families connected by living conditions, kinship, and common hunting territory. In terms of spiritual culture, this era is marked by the spread of totemism and animism associated with hunting magic. Signs of primitive art appear. In most of Central and Eastern Europe, an area is formed in which small plastics, geometric ornamentation and engraving on rocks predominate; examples of cave painting, more common in Western Europe, are rare.
Primitive art appears in the late Paleolithic. It reflects the world around us and man’s knowledge of the mysterious forces of nature, efforts aimed at ensuring own existence etc. It arises from material phenomena and embodies human needs. Drawings painted or carved on stone have been preserved. Famous rock and cave painting. Graphics on products made of bone and horn were developed. Closely associated with the cult, hunting magic and the cult of fertility, primitive art was supposed to ensure successful hunting, the fertility of animals and the continuation of the human race. It was an integral part of the life of that time, gradually acquiring such aesthetic qualities as the realism of images or their abstract or stylized reproduction, monumentality, and compositionality. Different regions inherent features. The paintings in the Altemira caves in Spain and the Kapova cave in the Urals are widely known. In addition to wall paintings, there are famous plastic images of people and animals. In particular, “Venus” from Willendorf on the Danube, Kostyanka on the Don. Famous excavations of mammoth bones (Mizin on the Desna), Primitive art became the basis for the development of art of subsequent eras.
Great changes occur during the Mesolithic era (10-7 thousand years ago). The end of the Ice Age led to the death of some animals that were hunted. A mammoth lived on the territory of Ukraine in the 11th millennium AD. e., woolly rhinoceros and steppe bison - by the 9th-8th thousand AD. e. The musk ox, the giant deer, the lion, the hyena, and reindeer and fur-bearing animals moved to the north of the region. A characteristic feature of the Mesolithic was the development of tools towards the improvement of throwing weapons and the appearance of small flint and stone tools, hoes, stone mortars and the like.
During the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras, certain changes occurred in the structure of the tribal community. It became larger (up to 100 people) and covered a certain territory in which several groups were engaged in hunting, gathering or fishing, which formed large or small phratries.
The day of the Mesolithic marks the formation of a tribe - an ethnocultural community, which is characterized by a common language and cultural traditions. In conditions of migration, the tribe becomes the object of expanding marriage ties. Within large communities, governing bodies began to form, consisting of influential community elders (they organized collective hunting, resettlement, construction of housing, distribution of prey, and the implementation of certain rituals). Sometimes rituals and control over family and marriage customs were entrusted to shaman leaders (formal leaders who were replaced by inheriting the position through the maternal line). The Chiefs line played important role during military conflicts, since it had a strict authoritarian character. The elders acted in times of peace and, as a rule, coordinated their activities with the elders of other clans.
The system of socialization (transferring experience to younger generations) has become more complicated. The first step in this direction was the emergence in the first-clan community of initiation rites and preparation for it (tests for enrollment as members of the clan). The needs of economic and social activity led to the emergence of a temporary couple family as an institution or the lowest level of the team. It did not have a sustainable nature, but it helped to take a responsible attitude towards the implementation of collective actions, preserving the collective nature of the appropriation of a natural product and exogamous sexual relations within the community.
In UP thousand kn. That is, “reproductive economy” is coming to Europe. From the south of the Balkans, these impulses were directed to the northwest, north and northeast. In the middle of the 5th millennium AD. e. on the territory of the eastern Hungarian Transdanubia, Moravia, South-Western Slovakia consists original culture linear-tape ceramics. The bearers of this culture in the second half of the 5th - early 4th millennium AD. e. they spread agriculture and cattle breeding along the waterways (Danube, Vistula, Laba, Rhine, Dniester and Prut) over a vast territory from the Meuse (in the west) to the Dniester (in the east), from the interfluve of the Sava and Drava (in the south) to the Odra ( in the north).
The settlements of line-ribbon ceramics carriers are concentrated near rivers. Wooden houses of frame-and-post construction were located at a distance of 15-20 m. From one to several families lived in the house. The burial grounds of this culture are rich in finds. The grave goods of male burials include polished stone axes, items made from non-local raw materials, and handicrafts.
Agriculture in Europe was first hoe farming. It turned out to be quite labor-intensive and unproductive. A large number of small livestock also could not completely supplant hunting. Only the appearance in the UP thousand k. e. rala, some elements of arable farming and the primitive slash-and-burn complex and irrigation gave the farmers the opportunity to obtain certain advantages in obtaining food. It was then that the transition from round to rectangular housing took place, which confirms the steady trend towards complete settlement, since this form of housing made it possible to complete the construction of the necessary residential and utility premises.
The transition to reproductive forms of management and increasing the efficiency of the results of people's economic activities led to changes in their life and psychology. The land on which production took place acquired new characteristics: it became not only an object, but also the result of human labor. The nature of work has also changed. It required a greater level of cooperation and at the same time created a specialization of production processes. The division of labor within the community became a necessary condition for its continued existence. Intercommunal exchange also appeared. Communities with a pastoral profile exchanged products with Rilnitsky or hunting-gathering communities. The objects of exchange were craft items (ceramics, tools) and raw materials.
All this led to a modification of the concept of “property”. An understanding of the personal right to tools and household items and an awareness of the hereditary, collective right to land arise. Ownership of land was characterized by a certain hierarchy: only the clan could dispose of it, adult members had the right to own individual plots, and the family only had the right to use it. Personal property declined given this hierarchy. The ancestral territory had specific name and areas were allocated on it that had a cultural significance: a place for rituals, sanctuaries, sources of drinking water and raw materials, a forest. With the increasing role of men in arable farming, the structure of communal property acquired a patriarchal character, and the need for additional labor stimulated the transformation of the clan community into a neighboring one.
In the conditions of marital isolation of large communities and the formation of their original cultural and economic complexes, the formation of ethnocultural communities took place. The tribe (group of communities) became the main ethnic unit. Exchange, weakening of military conflicts, common rituals are factors of ethnic consolidation. For Western Asia and Eastern Europe, the main event was the emergence of the Indo-European family of languages. Most researchers believe that the emergence of tribal culture in Eastern and Central Europe should be associated with the culture of linear-band ceramics. social organization. It was typical for her:
The existence of a farming-pastoral-type community, which was formed by 60-100 people living in the settlement;
The presence of an economic area within a radius of 5 km around the settlement. This area was under collective communal ownership.
New impulses from the zone of Western Asia to the Balkan Peninsula contributed to the emergence of new cultures on the basis of old traditions of painted ceramics. In the 5th millennium AD That is, here the unique cultures of Sesklo (Thessaly), Vinca (Balkans and the Carpathian Basin), Karanovo Sh - Veselinovo (Thrace) are formed. With the advent of metals, this region enters the Neolithic day.
On the territory of modern Moldova and Ukraine it is located at the beginning of the 4th millennium AD. e. Trypillian-Cucutean historical and cultural community. It is characterized by arable farming with the use of oxen and the use of draft vehicles (drags). The culture bearers used copper and gold to make jewelry, and copper to make axes and adzes. Traces of welding at a temperature of 350-400 C were found on some Trypillian axes.
Weaving, leather goods, and ceramics rose from the level of home crafts to the level of crafts such as metallurgy and metalworking. Exchange and barter trade became widespread and led to social differentiation of society. Most researchers note that the level of development of Trypillian culture was ahead of all other regions of Europe. Regional centers appear here, and the area of settlements and population increases sharply. In developed Tripoli, the average settlement area is 25-60 hectares.
An important direction in the development of cattle breeding was the domestication of new species of animals. Researchers believe that the area of domestication of horses can be associated with the territory of Ukraine. In the settlement of Dereivka, remains of bones with clear signs of domestication were found. The time of the finds (IV thousand AD) makes it possible to say that the horse came to the regions of Western Asia from the northern Black Sea steppes. The presence of cattle and horses made it possible to solve the problems of draft power and transport.
The real revolution began with the advent of the wheel. Until recent times, Western Asia and Mesopotamia were considered the birthplace of the wheel. But the finds of clay models of wheels in the Carpathian-Danube area (5th - mid-4th millennium AD) force us to change this scheme. It is now generally accepted that the spread of various types of wheeled transport is associated with the Neolithic settlements of South-Eastern Europe (they have been known here since the 4th millennium BC).
It should also be noted the emergence of tribes that made regular migrations associated with grazing livestock. They could engage in farming, but the main role in the economy was played by the exchange of livestock and livestock products for agricultural products. Thus arose new type farms - nomadic cattle breeding. The Caspian-Black Sea steppes became the habitat for the formation of nomadic cattle breeding in Europe. Driving force These processes may have been a change in the climate humidity of the region. But the emergence of a nomadic way of life should not be taken into account: new pastoral communities were in active contact with tribes that specialized in arable farming or metallurgical production. Near the social complexes of the reproduction economy lived tribes who continued to live by hunting, fishing and gathering. They also continued to improve their social structure, since contacts with neighbors stimulated the development of social organization in them.
As a result of contacts, handicraft production is rapidly progressing. In Europe, its center was the Balkan-Carpathian metallurgical center, which arose in the 6th millennium AD. e. and gave impetus to the development of metallurgy of the Trypillian culture (east). The most ancient metal production was localized in Bulgaria and the former Yugoslavia. Products were made mainly from copper, only in the second quarter of the 4th millennium AD. That is, things made of bronze appear. From the second half of the 4th millennium AD. That is, its own metalworking center in Tripoli began to operate, although raw materials came there from the Balkans. It is worth emphasizing the relative amount of metal items. Central Europe at this time as a whole produced only up to 16.5 tons of copper per year. That's why for a long time copper products were considered luxury goods; only weapons and ritual objects were made from it. However, Sh thousand k. That is, it became a time of noticeable changes for Central and Eastern Europe. It was then that the complex process of replacing Eneolithic cultures with cultures took place Bronze Age, which researchers associate with the processes of ethnogenesis of the peoples of Europe.
Sh thousand kn. e. - a period very important for the development of the population throughout Europe. It was of a transitional nature, since new archaeological cultures. The first Bronze Age cultures were the Early Minoan culture on the island of Crete, the Early Greek culture of Greece, the Early Thessalian culture, the Early Macedonian culture and the Early Bronze Age culture in Thrace.
Second half of the 3rd millennium AD e. was characterized by large migrations of tribes, which significantly influenced the formation and education of the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe.
In the second quarter of the 3rd millennium AD. That is, in Central and western Eastern Europe, the culture of spherical amphorae became widespread, its monuments are found on the Labe, Odra, Vistula, and at a developed stage, the carriers of this culture penetrate into the upper reaches of the Western Bug, and from there into the upper reaches of the Prut, Seret and Dniester. The settlements of the Globular Amphora culture, discovered in the Czech Republic, consist of pillar dwellings with walls coated with clay. In these settlements, remains of cereals (wheat and barley) and legumes were found, and an increase in the number of pigs was recorded.
During the 4th-3rd millennium AD That is, a large historical community of carriers of the Yamnaya culture emerged, which covered the expanses from the Southern Urals to the Prut-Dniester basin. In the north, its range reaches Kyiv and Samara Luka, and in the south - to the foothills of the Caucasus.
No less important than the Yamnaya cultural and historical community for Central Europe was the culture of corded ceramics, or battle axes, the formation of which dates back to the second half of the PE millennium AD. e. It consisted of a number of genetically related cultures that covered the territory from the banks of the Rhine to the Volga. Cups with corded patterns and ground axes in male burials are their specific feature. The culture of Corded Ware is considered to be a field farming and cattle culture. Since its carriers spread to the north and east, this culture is characterized by adaptation to local natural conditions, which is especially clearly visible in the regions of Poland and the Baltic states. Here the “laced people” were carriers of new reproductive technologies that are replacing hunting types of farming. The same can be said about the development of metalworking and metallurgy. Particularly active are the development of tools for slash-and-burn agriculture, characteristic of the carriers of this culture, who lived mainly in the forest area.
Another big migration from western direction covered Western and Central Europe at the end of the 3rd millennium AD. e. in connection with the movement of the carriers of the Bell-shaped Beaker culture. Central Portugal is considered the region where the culture was formed. From this zone, culture begins to penetrate into Brittany, and from it into the area of the sources of the Rhine. The problem of the emergence of the Central European centers of this culture, which covered the regions of the Czech Republic and Moravia, as well as the areas of modern Austria, Bavaria, Hungary, Saxony and Poland, remains unresolved. The bearers of the Bell-Beaker culture on the banks of the Danube were breeding horses and making copper knives and jewelry.
Analysis of the burial grounds of all Bronze Age cultures makes it possible to draw conclusions about the nature of social changes. The finds of weapons prove that military conflicts and migrations have become the realities of life for the population of Central-Eastern Europe. Typically, most clashes arose over herds of livestock. Against the background of these clashes, intercommunal exchange developed, which also accelerated the processes of stratification within the tribes. The role of the family is increasing, which is evidenced by the presence of paired burials in large collective burial grounds. The appearance of burial mounds among the Yamnaya culture, where the size of the mound (diameter 110 m, height 3.5 m) required the efforts of a large number of people (approximately 500 people over 80 days), indicates that the process of distinguishing a military aristocracy was taking place. Ordinary community members had the right only to a mound with a diameter of 20 to 50 m with equipment in the form of pottery.
Residents of Central-Eastern Europe led a mixed crop-pastoral economy and, in search of new pastures for livestock, were forced to settle in mountainous areas. Cattle predominated almost everywhere in the structure of the herd. The role of sheep, goats and pigs in supplying the population with meat remained secondary.
In the first half of the 2nd millennium AD. e. characteristic phenomenon Agriculture began, although in some regions of the steppe strip of Eastern Europe it could have appeared earlier. Agriculture was arable, which indicates a significant step forward, since people could cultivate large areas of land with a team of oxen. During the Late Bronze Age, the sandy soils of the hills were brought into production, forests were cleared and river valleys were used less. The hunting regime is being reduced, since some animals (tur, bison, roe deer, wild boar, deer) were intensively exterminated in previous times. On the Baltic Sea coast, fishing played a significant role; there are images of boats and even the first ships. Wheeled transport appeared - carts with solid and composite wheels.
2nd millennium AD That is, in the economy of the then population of Central-Eastern Europe, the importance of copper and tin ore deposits is growing. Copper deposits were located in the areas of the Czech Ore Mountains, the Carpathians and the Balkans. In the last two areas, the development of deposits began earlier than anyone else in Europe. From 1700-1500 to n. That is, copper production also began in the Eastern Alps. Mining technology of the 2nd millennium AD. e. very well studied on the basis of Austrian materials. The Mittgerberg mines (near Salzburg) were cut into the hill to a depth of 100 m, following layers of copper pyrite. It is estimated that each of the 32 mines was mined over a period of seven years by groups of 180 workers each.
Some communities in the Late Bronze Age began to specialize in the manufacture of tools. However stone tools continued to compete with bronze ones" and only their shape resembled metal ones. Only at the end of the 2nd - beginning of the 1st millennium AD in the southern and central regions of Europe, the bulk of the population began to use metal tools more widely, as evidenced by the finds of settlements of metal craftsmen , for example Velem Sengvid (Hungary).
Salt mining became of great importance at this time. Thus, in Upper Austria and Southern Germany there was a salt mining area, where salt was produced by evaporation, and then pressed and dried in the form of “salt heads”. It very often became an object of exchange, as well as copper, bronze, gold and products made from them, earthenware beads, amber and amber jewelry, and sea shells.
In the second half of the 2nd millennium AD. That is, Central Europe becomes a zone of intensive exchange. Currently, the existence of regular active trade through the Carpathian and Alpine passes has been proven. The exchange was carried out at the community level, and unlike the countries of the East and the Mediterranean zone, all members of the community took part in it. The length of trade routes is amazing. It is known that Baltic amber was found in some Mycenaean mine graves.
Military clashes in the tribal environment of Central and Eastern Europe not only aimed at economic interests (theft and protection of livestock, food sources and raw materials), but also accelerated the formation of elements of social development (strengthening the power of the military leader and the emergence of a military aristocracy).
Specific areas in the Bronze Age were the steppe expanses of Eastern Europe. In the first half of the second thousand. That is, the catacomb cultural and historical community spread here, which had a characteristic feature funeral rite: the dead were buried in special catacomb chambers dug into one of the walls of the grave pit. The Catacomb community occupied a significant territory from the Dniester to the Volga. In the south, its borders were the foothills of the Caucasus (Kuban and the Terek zone).
Catacombs (from Latin - underground tomb) are underground premises of natural or artificial origin. In ancient times, they were used mainly for religious ceremonies and burial of the dead. Such catacomb structures have been preserved in the Kiev Pechersk Lavra. During the Early Bronze Age, there was a catacomb culture, widespread in the territories of Ukraine and the Don region and in the Kalmyk steppes. The dead were buried in catacombs - podboys. The main occupation of the tribes of this culture is cattle breeding and agriculture. Catacombs are sometimes called abandoned underground quarries, for example, near Odessa and Kerch.
Cattle breeding and farming forced the people of this community to lead a semi-nomadic lifestyle. There was metallurgy and metalworking (near Artemovsk). Gold items were rare here, but the identification of a military aristocracy can be traced in the materials of burial mounds, some of which reached a height of 8 m and a diameter of 75 m. They contain traces of violent murder during the burial of the leader and his wife. The remains of a horse were found in some burials, which indicates the high position of the buried person.
In the late Bronze Age, monuments of the Timber-frame culture appeared, which existed in the steppe regions of Eastern Europe. This cultural and historical community is characterized by burials in pits or log houses. It is believed that the Catacomb and Srubnaya cultures were a continuation of the traditions of the Yamnaya culture. Some researchers argue that the Catacomb culture arose as a result of migration, and the Srubnaya culture was the remains of autochthonous inhabitants. Researchers of the burials of the Srubnaya culture highlight traces of social differentiation, in particular, “burials of tribal elders.”
The role of the tribe as a single force capable of protecting the population from attacks by neighbors was enhanced by the possibilities of developing new territories. The tribal organization accelerated the crisis of consanguinity and stimulated the emergence of new forms of territorial ties.
Against the background of these processes, the first cults of gods arose, which in the 2nd millennium AD. e. have become typical for the region of Central-Eastern Europe. This is the cult of the goddess of fertility and the goddess of the earth. The cult of the water goddess came from the Middle East. The cult of the bull and the cult of the sun, represented by a golden disk with a halo or a circle with four spokes, were considered traditional for the region. The change in funeral rites reflects the trend of changes in everyday life. Deposition of corpses is replaced by cremation. According to the beliefs of the ancient inhabitants, fire helped the soul to free itself from the body.
V P thousand kn. e. the scale of migrations and complex ethnocultural processes is decreasing. For this period, the most significant resettlement was the movement of the tribes of the Kurgan grave culture to the Middle Danube region. Unlike the previous era, this migration had the characteristic features of a military invasion. The culture of burial mounds for Central and Eastern Europe now dates from 1500 to 1200 AD. to n. e. The center of this culture was Bavaria, Württemberg and the area where the Unetice culture previously existed. In the 13th century to n. e. the culture of barrow graves is changed by the culture of the fields of burial urns, which covers the transition period from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Researchers believe that the emergence of the culture of the fields of burial urns coincides in time with the formation of ancient European Italian, Germanic, Illyrian, Celtic and Venetian ethnic groups.
The primary seat of statehood in Europe was Crete and Achaean Greece, which already at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 2000 AD. e. formed a world of palace complexes. Through them, Europe became acquainted with the system of eastern-type states. Soon the processes spread to new areas of the European continent.
The development of the primitive communal system of farmers-pastoralists was a natural result of the Neolithic revolution that took place in the economy. Various signs Such a situation already existed in the late-birth community of farmers and cattle breeders. However, it took time for these trends to manifest themselves in full force. New, more advanced labor skills had to be developed, the population had to grow, and the most important component of the productive forces—the means of labor—had to progress. Therefore, discoveries and developments were of great importance beneficial properties metals This was the impetus for cultural and social changes in human history.
The primitive communal system is the longest period in the history of human development. This is the beginning of the development story social society- from the emergence of Homo sapiens (about 2 million years ago) to the emergence of states and civilizations.
The most ancient settlements
The oldest discoveries of the ancestors of Homo Sapiens confirm the fact that a continuous process of human evolution took place in the lands of Eastern and Central Europe. One of the ancient burials was discovered in the Czech Republic (Przezletice). Hominid remains found there date back to about 800 thousand years BC. e. These and other interesting finds support the hypothesis that in the Lower Paleolithic certain areas of Europe were inhabited by the ancestors of modern people.
During the Middle Paleolithic period, the birth rate of hominids sharply increased, which is consistent with a large number of archaeological finds of the remains of anthropoid creatures that lived 150-40 thousand years ago. Data from excavations of this time are associated with the emergence of a new type of people - the so-called Neanderthals.
Neanderthals
Neanderthals inhabited almost the entire continental part of Europe (without northern England), northern Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. The primitive society of those times was a small group of Neanderthals living big family engaged in hunting and gathering. The ancestors of modern people used various tools, both stone and made from other natural materials, such as wood or the bones of large animals.
History of primitive society during the Ice Age
The last ice age began just over 70 thousand years ago. The life of people's ancestors has become dramatically more complicated. The onset of cold weather completely changed primitive society, its foundations and customs. Climate change increased the importance of fire as a source of heat for ancient people. Some animal species disappeared or migrated to warmer climes. This led to the need for people to unite to hunt large animals.
At this time, a driven hunt occurs, in which he takes part a large number of of people. In this way, Neanderthals hunted deer, cave bear, bison, mammoth and other large animals common in those days. At the same time, the development of primitive society extended to the first reproductive methods of economic activity - agriculture and animal husbandry.
Cro-Magnons
The process of anthropogenesis ended approximately 40 thousand years ago. A modern type of man was formed and a tribal community was organized. The type of person who replaced the Neanderthals was called Cro-Magnon. He differed from Neanderthals in height and large brain volume. The main occupation is hunting.
The Cro-Magnons lived in small caves, grottoes, and structures built from mammoth bones. The high level of social organization of these people is proven by numerous cave and cave drawings, sculptures for religious purposes, ornaments on tools of labor and hunting.
During the Upper Paleolithic era, tools were constantly improved in the center and east of Europe. Some archaeological cultures that existed simultaneously for a long time are becoming isolated. During this period, man invents arrows and bows.
Tribal community
In the Upper and Middle Paleolithic era, a new type of human organization appeared - the clan community. Its essential features are ritual forms of self-government and common ownership of tools.
Basically, the clan community included hunter-gatherers, who united in associations of families connected by living conditions, family kinship, and common hunting grounds.
The spiritual culture of primitive society in this era represented the beginnings of animism and totemism associated with the cult of fertility and the magic of hunting. Drawings carved on stone or drawn in caves have been preserved. Primitive society left descendants a legacy of talented nameless artists, whose drawings we can see in the Kapova Cave in the Urals or in the Altamira Cave in Spain. These primitive paintings laid the foundation for the development of art in subsequent eras.
Mesolithic era
The history of primitive society changes with the end of the Ice Age (10-7 thousand years ago). This event led to a forced change in social development primitive community. It began to number about a hundred people; covered a certain territory in which it was engaged in fishing, hunting, and gathering.
In the same era, primitive society gives birth to a tribe - ethnic community people with the same language and cultural traditions. In the middle of such communities, the first governing bodies are formed. Power in a primitive society passes into the hands of the elders, who make decisions about resettlement, construction of huts, organization of collective hunting, and so on.
In wartime, power could pass to shaman leaders, who played the role of formal leaders of the tribe. The system of socialization and transfer of knowledge, skills and experience has become more complex to the younger generation. The specifics of farming and new social roles led to the emergence of the paired family as the smallest unit of primitive society.
Naturally, the norms of primitive society do not allow us to talk about family relationships in modern meaning this word. Such families were temporary in nature, their role was to perform certain collective actions or rituals. The culture of primitive society became more complex, rituals appeared, which became the prototype of the emergence of religion. The first burials associated with the emerging belief in the afterlife are dated to the same time.
The emergence of the concept of property
The improvement of farming and hunting tools led to a change in worldview and social behavior of people. The nature of work changed - specialization became possible, that is, certain people were engaged in their own areas of work. The division of labor in the community became a necessary condition for its existence. Primitive society discovered intercommunal exchange. Pastoral tribes exchanged products with agricultural or hunting communities.
All of the above led to a modification of the concept of “property”. There is an understanding of personal rights to household items and tools. Later, the concept of property transferred to land plots. The strengthening of the role of men in agriculture and the structure of communal ownership of land led to increased power of men - patriarchy. Patriarchal relations together with the definition of private property, these are the first steps towards the emergence of statehood and civilization.
According to scientific data, primitive people appeared about 4 million years ago. Over the course of many millennia, they evolved, that is, they improved not only in terms of development but also in appearance. Historical anthropology subdivides primitive people into several species that successively replaced each other. What are they anatomical features each type of primitive people, and in what time period did they exist? Read about all this below.
Primitive people - who are they?
The most ancient people lived in Africa more than 2 million years ago. This is confirmed by numerous archaeological finds. However, it is known for certain that for the first time humanoid creatures moving confidently on their hind limbs (and this is the most important feature in defining a primitive man) appeared much earlier - 4 million years ago. This characteristic of ancient people, such as upright walking, was first identified in creatures to which scientists gave the name “australopithecus.”
As a result of centuries of evolution, they were replaced by the more advanced Homo habls, also known as “homo habilis.” He was replaced by humanoid creatures, whose representatives were called Homo erectus, which translated from Latin means “upright man.” And only after almost one and a half million years a more perfect type of primitive man appeared, which most closely resembled the modern intelligent population of the Earth - Homo sapiens or “reasonable man.” As can be seen from all of the above, primitive people slowly, but at the same time very effectively developed, mastering new opportunities. Let us consider in more detail what all these human ancestors were, what their activities were and what they looked like.
Australopithecus: external features and lifestyle
Historical anthropology classifies Australopithecus as one of the very first apes to walk on their hind limbs. The origin of this kind of primitive people began in the territory East Africa more than 4 million years ago. For almost 2 million years, these creatures spread across the continent. The oldest man, whose height averaged 135 cm, weighed no more than 55 kg. Unlike monkeys, australopithecines had more pronounced sexual dimorphism, but the structure of the canines in male and female individuals was almost the same. The skull of this species was relatively small and had a volume of no more than 600 cm3. The main activity of Australopithecus was practically no different from that practiced by modern apes, and boiled down to obtaining food and protecting against natural enemies.
A skilled person: features of anatomy and lifestyle
(translated from Latin as “skillful man”) appeared as a separate independent species of anthropoids 2 million years ago on African continent. This ancient man, whose height often reached 160 cm, had a more developed brain than that of Australopithecus - about 700 cm 3. The teeth and fingers of the upper limbs of Homo habilis were almost completely similar to those of humans, but the large brow ridges and jaws made it look like monkeys. In addition to gathering, a skilled person hunted using stone blocks, and knew how to use processed tracing paper to cut up animal carcasses. This suggests that Homo habilis is the first humanoid creature with labor skills.
Homo erectus: appearance
The anatomical characteristic of the ancient humans known as Homo erectus was a marked increase in the volume of the skull, which allowed scientists to claim that their brains were comparable in size to the brains of modern humans. and the jaws of Homo habilis remained massive, but were not as pronounced as those of their predecessors. The physique was almost the same as that of a modern person. Judging by archaeological finds, Homo erectus led and knew how to make fire. Representatives of this species lived in fairly large groups in caves. The main occupation of skilled man was gathering (mainly for women and children), hunting and fishing, and making clothes. Homo erectus was one of the first to realize the need to create food reserves.
appearance and lifestyle
Neanderthals appeared much later than their predecessors - about 250 thousand years ago. What was this ancient man like? His height reached 170 cm, and his skull volume was 1200 cm 3. In addition to Africa and Asia, these also settled in Europe. Maximum amount Neanderthals in one group reached 100 people. Unlike their predecessors, they had rudimentary forms of speech, which allowed their fellow tribesmen to exchange information and interact more harmoniously with each other. The main occupation of this human ancestor was hunting. Their success in obtaining food was ensured by a variety of tools: spears, long pointed fragments of stones that were used as knives, and traps dug in the ground with stakes. Neanderthals used the resulting materials (hides, skins) to make clothing and shoes.
Cro-Magnons: the final stage of the evolution of primitive man
Cro-Magnons or (Homo Sapiens) are the last ancient man known to science, whose height already reached 170-190 cm. The external resemblance of this species of primitive people to monkeys was almost imperceptible, since the brow ridges were reduced, and the lower jaw no longer protruded forward. Cro-Magnons made tools not only from stone, but also from wood and bone. In addition to hunting, these human ancestors were engaged in agriculture and the initial forms of animal husbandry (tamed wild animals).
The level of thinking of the Cro-Magnons was significantly higher than their predecessors. This allowed them to create cohesive social groups. The herd principle of existence was replaced by the tribal system and the creation of the rudiments of socio-economic laws.
