Primitive era. Primitive society

Today, thanks to the work of archaeologists, it is possible to reconstruct the entire history of human development. Since most of the skeletons belonging to the era of interest to us were found on the African continent, scientists recognize this territory as the historical homeland of primitive people - Australopithecus and, later, Homo habilis. Stone tools appeared about 2-2.5 million years ago, which allows historians to consider this time as a kind of starting point.

Unlike his ancestors, a “skillful” person - using primitive tools - moves confidently on his feet, and his hands can not only hold a stone or a stick, but also use them as the first primitive tools. However, this is where the differences between homo sapiens and australopithecus end: they also communicate through screams, exclamations and gestures.

Even after a million years, the creature, which historians call “upright man,” still resembled a monkey not only in appearance - it was covered with hair, had the appropriate shape of its head and arms - but also in its habits. Despite this, the brain of the “straightened man” increased significantly in size, which affected his abilities: he could make tools intended for different purposes: catch and kill animals, butcher their carcasses, dig the ground, cut wooden sticks.

Thanks to the developed skills, man was able to survive the Ice Age and move from the African continent to Java, the North and Europe. The “straightened” man began to hunt elephants and deer and use fire, which warmed him and protected him from predatory animals.

Due to the increasing complexity of human activity, homo sapiens appeared 250 thousand years ago - “reasonable man” or, as he is also called, Neanderthal. Intelligent people first began to use the high caves in which bears spent the winter. Firstly, they easily obtained meat in this way, and secondly, they occupied caves in which they subsequently lived in large groups.

It was during this period that strong family relationships began to develop. They began to bury dead people with special rituals, surrounding the graves with stones and flowers. The skeletons found allowed scientists to determine that “intelligent” people tried to cure sick or injured relatives by sharing food with them and caring for them.

Rituals and rituals were also characteristic of Everyday life: Animal skulls arranged in a special order were found in the caves.

Since it is impossible to trace exactly how their “transformation” into modern people took place. In Latin, he is also called homo sapiens sapiens or “twice intelligent” man and his appearance is associated with the Stone Age. A man of this species no longer had practically anything in common with a monkey - his arms became shorter, his forehead became higher, and a chin appeared.

Stone tools were replaced by bone ones. In general, in his use there were about 150 types of tools for different purposes. However, animal bones were used not only for making tools. People built houses from massive bones and wore animal teeth as decorations.

It is obvious that people's lives directly depended on animals: primitive communities followed the herds that migrated south. For hunting they used a spear and a bow, and for construction primitive dwellings- not only bones, but also animal skins.

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 of the 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 in preparing for exams. world history. The structure and presentation of factual material are focused on the programs of higher 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, the historical process as a whole. Particular attention is paid to issues that are not sufficiently covered in modern textbooks.

Remember the famous proverb: “Who controls the past, controls the future.”

Life of people in primitive times

Primitive society: chronology, occupations of people

Period of existence primitive society was the longest in human history. 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 millennium AD) and iron (1st thousand AD). - And Art. N.).

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 discoveries of human ancestors confirm the fact that complex processes of human evolution took place on the territory of Central and Eastern Europe. The oldest remains of ancient man (hominids) were recorded in the Czech Republic (Przezletice). 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 found 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 Neanderthal area 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 (Würm cooling, which began approximately 70 thousand years ago, the activities of human ancestors became more complex. The onset of glaciers changed the nature of economic activity. Some animal species became extinct or went south, and this led to the emergence of specialized hunting associated with one species of animals, Neanderthals hunted the 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 necessary. The need for food contributed to the emergence of hunting by driving (animals are driven into natural and artificial traps or by a group of hunters who throw spears or stones). Up to 100 people took part in such hunts.

Primitive hunters - from the beginning human society hunting was one of the main forms of farming. 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), a higher forehead without brow ridges, a narrow nose, a clearly defined chin protrusion. Many remains of bones found on different continents indicate differences at this stage of human evolution. The group's dwellings were caves. grottoes, rock overhangs and structures built from mammoth bones are 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, Solvar 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 of 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 in a broad sense the term "community" is used to refer to a variety of communities: rural societies, urban communes, fraternities, 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 being formed in which small plastics, geometric ornamentation and engraving on rocks predominate; examples of cave painting, more common in Western Europe.

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 his own existence, and the like. 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 have their own characteristics. 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 Mesolithic day marks the formation of a tribe - an ethnocultural community, which is characterized by common linguistic 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 line of leaders played an important role during the period of military conflicts, since they 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. That is, on the territory of the eastern Hungarian Transdanubia, Moravia, and Southwestern Slovakia there is a distinctive culture of linear band 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 specialization 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 a specific name and areas were allocated on it that had extra-tribal 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 social organization in Eastern and Central Europe should be associated with the culture of linear band ceramics. 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, a new type of economy arose - nomadic cattle breeding. The Caspian-Black Sea steppes became the habitat for the formation of nomadic cattle breeding in Europe. The driving force behind these processes may have been changes in the humidity of the region's climate. But the emergence nomadic image life should not be absolutized: 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, as contacts with neighbors stimulated their development of social organization.

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, in general, it yielded only up to 16.5 tons of copper per year. Therefore, for a long time, copper products were considered luxury items; 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 of the Bronze Age took place, 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 had a transitional character, since new archaeological cultures were emerging in the vastness of the continent in the Mediterranean, southern Balkans and Western Caucasus. The first Bronze Age cultures were the Early Minoan culture on the island of Crete, the Early Hellenic 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 a corded pattern and polished 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 “shnuroviki” 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 large migration from the western direction covered Western and Central Europe at the end of the 3rd millennium BC. 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 dimensions 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. That is, agriculture became a characteristic phenomenon, 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 deposits of copper and tin ores 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 BC 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 metal craftsmen, for example Velem-Sengvíd (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. The existence of regular active trade through the Carpathian and Alpine passes has now 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 (the 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 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 consisted of the remains of autochthonous inhabitants. Researchers of the burials of the Srubnaya culture identify 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 character traits 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 funeral urns coincides in time with the formation of ancient European Italian, Germanic, Illyrian, Celtic and Venetian ethnic groups.

The primary focus of statehood in Europe was Crete and Achaean Greece, which already at the end of the 3rd - beginning of the 5th thousand 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 of such a situation already existed in the late-birth community of farmers and pastoralists. However, in order for these trends to manifest themselves in full force, it took time. 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, the discovery and development of the beneficial properties of metals were of great importance. This was the impetus for cultural and social changes in human history.

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 (about the 4th millennium 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 tool production, material culture ancient humanity is closely connected with the creation of housing.

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

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

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

homo erectus- early hominids: Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus;

modern man physical appearance - late hominids: Neanderthals and Upper Paleolithic people.

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

The rich and generous nature of the period did not help to accelerate this process; Only with the onset of 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 quickly appeared, tools were improved, and new ones were developed. social forms. 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.

The pace of development of human culture gradually accelerated, especially with the transition to a productive 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.

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

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

The primitive communal system is the first stage in the history of mankind, which began with the separation of man from the animal world and ended with the emergence of early states.

Chronology. The lower chronological limit, that is, the beginning of the history of primitive society, is not precisely defined, is mobile, and, as we study early history humanity, goes back thousands of years.

Currently, some scientists believe that ancient man (and thus primitive society) arose 1.5 - 1 million years ago, others attribute his appearance to 2.6 million years ago. The upper chronological limit, that is, the end time of the history of primitive society, is different in different regions. In Asia and Northeast Africa, the first early states emerged at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, in Europe - in the 1st millennium BC.

Periodization. The history of primitive society is divided into periods. Researchers use several periodizations, but the archaeological one is considered the most common. It is based on differences in the material and technique of making tools.

According to archaeological periodization, human history is divided into the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. The history of primitive society dates back to the Stone Age. The Stone Age is divided into Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.

The Paleolithic (ancient Stone Age) is divided into the Early Paleolithic (ends 100 thousand years ago), Middle Paleolithic(ends 40 thousand years ago) and late Paleolithic (ends in X thousand BC). The Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) begins in the 9th millennium BC. and ends in the 7th millennium BC. Neolithic (New Stone Age) begins in the 6th millennium BC. and ends at the end of the 3rd millennium BC, when in certain regions of Western Asia people learned to obtain bronze. Bronze Age lasted until the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, when the Iron Age began.

The place of man in the animal world. Modern man belongs to the order Primates (like living apes), the family Hominid (or anthropomorphic), the genus Homo and the species sapiens. The major human fossil species today include Homo habilis (Homo habilis), Homo erectus (Homo erectus), and Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal man).

Differences between humans and other primates. Humans, as a biological species, are distinguished from other primates by upright posture, free upper limbs with a mobile hand capable of fine manipulation, and a developed brain (in modern humans it ranges on average from 1000 to 1800 cm.kb.). The main social difference of a person is his ability to work. Consequently, the basic criterion for identifying human remains among the skeletons of other primates is considered to be the tools found nearby.

Driving forces of anthropogenesis. Anthropogenesis is the process of the emergence of man and his development as a biological species. It is in this section of the science of primitive society that discussions and fierce debates have been ongoing for two hundred years. In particular, it is not completely clear how “human” characteristics appeared in our distant ancestors, that is, what the driving forces of the process of anthropogenesis were. Charles Darwin attached the greatest importance to sexual selection. According to his theory, the peculiar physical organization of man was formed as a result of the selection by women of individuals who were distinguished by certain advantages. As a result, during the process of reproduction, such men left the most numerous offspring, exerting a decisive influence on the development of the human race. However, it was no longer clear to Darwin why exactly these and not other characteristics were subject to the action of natural selection, why the volume of the brain, the hand, the proportions of the body, etc., changed.

Friedrich Engels formulated the labor theory of anthropogenesis. Labor activity, according to F. Engels, was a powerful stimulus that transformed the appearance of a person: it led to upright posture and developed the hand; joint work gave rise to speech. However, as it turned out at the end of the 20th century, these factors are greatly separated in time: movement on the hind limbs appeared in primates more than 5 million years ago, that is, when their brain was very primitive and there was no speech at all.

At the end of the 20th century, the “mutation theory” gained great popularity. The change in the physical organization of human ancestors is explained by the influence of ionizing radiation and the intense geomagnetic field of the Earth. The conditions for this arose in east africa, where the East African Rift formed 20-10 million years ago, uranium mines were exposed, and mountain ranges isolated local primates.

At the same time, a cooling and drying climate occurred in eastern Africa, which led to a reduction in the area of ​​tropical forests and the spread of savannas. Some of the large higher primates, being forced into open areas, were forced to stand on their hind limbs and use their front limbs to carry food, young, and also for protection from predators.

It is possible that the change in human hereditary properties was caused by the influence of inversion - a change in the magnetic poles of the Earth. In any case, researchers notice a certain correlation between the next inversion and a certain stage in human biological evolution. Despite the variety of theories, none of them can be considered the only correct one, explaining the complex process of anthropogenesis in the Early and Middle Paleolithic.

Stages of anthropogenesis. Primates evolved from mammals about 60 million years ago. About 30 million years ago, higher primates appeared.

It is possible that the distant ancestors of modern humans were australopithecine monkeys. The first Australopithecus (translated as “southern monkey”) was discovered in 1924 in southern Africa in a limestone quarry by Australian explorer Raymond Dart. The main finds of australopithecines are still being made in Tanzania, in the Olduvei Gorge, which, in turn, is a site of the Great African Rift. They had a flat face, massive jaws, strongly pronounced brow ridges and sloping foreheads. Australopithecines are related to humans by upright walking and the absence of a diastema - the gap between the fangs and incisors. Australopithecines lived from 4 to 1 million years ago.

Australopithecines traditionally include Homo habilis (“homo habilis”), who lived 2.4-1.7 million years ago and had a brain volume of 600-680 cm KB. The skeletons of the first “homo habilis” were found in 1960 in the Olduvey Gorge. The first tools were discovered there, made from pieces of lava and quartz pebbles and dating back to 2 million 600 thousand years. For this reason, many paleoanthropologists consider Homo habilis to be the first human. Their opponents are confident that the found artifacts cannot be considered tools, since sharp working parts were obtained in the simplest way: by breaking a stone against a rock, or by splitting it with another stone. The activity of Homo habilis, they continue, was based not on will and consciousness (as in humans), but on innate instincts. For this reason, the activity of a “skilled person” can not be considered labor, but only ancestral, and he himself cannot be considered a person in our understanding.

Australopithecines were replaced by Archanthropus (ancient people), represented by Pithecanthropus and Sinanthropus. On International conference 1962 they were classified as Homo erectus (“upright man”).

Pithecanthropus is the first creature that accurately made tools, which means it can confidently be considered a human being. The first Pithecanthropus was found at the end of the 19th century on the island. Java by the Dutch doctor Eugene Dubois. Pithecanthropus lived in the period from 1 million 800 thousand years to 1 million years ago. Compared to Australopithecines, the brain volume of Pithecanthropus increased significantly and averaged 900 cm KB. Pithecanthropus had a sloping forehead with prominent brow ridges and an angular nape. But sweat glands already appear on his body and his hair disappears.

Sinanthropus was discovered in 1929 in China by the English anatomist Davidson Black. In a cave 50 km from Beijing, Black's expedition unearthed the skeletons of more than 40 individuals - an entire camp of ancient hunters. Sinanthropus lived 350-400 thousand years ago, its brain volume was, on average, 1000 kb. see Sinanthropus had permanent habitats and, judging by the bones found, collectively hunted large animals - deer, gazelles, wild horses, buffalos and rhinoceroses. It is possible that Sinanthropus had articulate speech and, importantly, made extensive use of fire: a layer of compressed ash up to 7 meters thick was preserved in the cave.

A site of archanthropes was also found in Altai - in the valley of the river. Anuy, Ust-Kansky district (Karama site).

Archanthropes widely used stone tools - hand axes, pointed points and scrapers. They led an appropriative economy: they were engaged in gathering and collective hunting. They lived in caves, and in open areas - in light dwellings made of tree branches.

Neanderthal. Neanderthals (paleoanthropes, Homo neanderthalensis) appeared approximately 130 thousand years ago. The first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856 in the Neanderthal Valley in Western Germany. The Neanderthal lived during the Würm glaciation and many of his physical features were formed under the influence of difficult living conditions. Neanderthal morphology is characterized by forceful adaptation: a massive skeleton and skull were complemented by a large muscle mass. Along with this, he had a completely modern brain with an average volume of 1200-1600 kb. see with developed frontal lobes responsible for logical thinking. Without a doubt, the Neanderthal also had articulate speech. Thanks to this, Homo neanderthalensis spread over a vast territory. Its sites were found in tropical Africa and in Japan, China, India, Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran, Turkey and in Western Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia, Mongolia and southern Siberia. In Altai, Neanderthals lived in the Ust-Kanskaya and Denisovaya caves, traces of his activity were found at Ulalinka.

Economic activities of Neanderthals. Neanderthals were still engaged in appropriative farming: gathering, driven hunting and, to a limited extent, fishing. The main object of hunting becomes one type of animal. They make extensive use of flint, with flint flakes being broken off from disc-shaped cores. Nucleus is a specially prepared piece of stone of a certain shape, from which plates were chipped or pressed to make tools. Neanderthals also used composite tools - throwing spears with inserted flint tips. In addition to stone and wood, Neanderthals used a new material - bone. They lived in caves and artificial structures. The caves are now being landscaped: the floor is covered with pebbles to protect against dampness, and a windproof wall is being built inside the cave. It has been fully proven that in a cold climate, Neanderthals learned to make fire and make clothing from animal skins. Burials with traces of ritual suggest that Neanderthals had primitive religious ideas.

Neanderthal problem. It is difficult to say whether modern man is a descendant of Neanderthal man, or whether he arose through the hybridization of various species: Neanderthal man, Yongxiang man, Sinanthropus man, etc.

Until the beginning of the 80s. XX century it was generally accepted that a person modern look(Cro-Magnon) appeared 40-35 thousand years ago. But since the end of the 20th century. paleoanthropologists began to make sensational discoveries in Africa. It turned out that south of the Sahara, people morphologically close to modern sapiens appeared at least 100 thousand years ago. The penetration of small groups of modern humans (Homo sapiens) beyond Africa into South-West Asia begins 60-50 thousand years ago. This first group of sapiens interbred with Neanderthals, and for this reason modern humans have 2.5% Neanderthal genes (data from 2011 research). Homo sapiens appeared en masse in Asia about 45 thousand years ago, and 35-40 thousand years ago they began to populate Europe. With the advent of modern humans, anthropogenesis ended.

Denisovans. Paleoanthropological finds in the Denisova Cave of the Altai Mountains make it possible to identify, in addition to sapiens and Neanderthals, another human population - the “Denisovans”. DNA analysis conducted in 2010 shows that Denisovans were slightly closer to Neanderthals than we are, and are the ancestors of modern Melanesians (the inhabitants of New Guinea and the islands to the east of it).

Sociogenesis. Community-tribal system. Sociogenesis implies the formation and development of primitive society. Archanthropes and paleoanthropes united into ancestral communities - primitive human herds. The period of the ancestral community was the longest in human history. The emergence of ancestral communities is explained by living conditions under which the solitary existence of an individual was excluded in principle. Indeed, gathering provided low-calorie food and took a lot of time, and round-up hunting for large animals or fast herd animals was possible only as part of a relatively large and close-knit group. This team consisted of about 20 people. Separately, the ancestral Neanderthal community is distinguished - more united and numerous.

With the advent of modern humans (Late Paleolithic times), the era of the communal-tribal system begins. It is divided into the periods of the early primitive community (late Paleolithic-Mesolithic) and the late primitive community (Neolithic), and ends with the decomposition of primitive society and the emergence of early states. The reasons for the emergence of the communal clan system are usually considered to be the same round-up hunt, as well as new conditions of economic life. In particular, the emergence of complex tools and the accumulation of rich experience required not episodic, as before, but constant communication between different generations relatives. The prerequisites for the formation of a communal clan system were the emergence of more communicative Homo sapiens, as well as his transition to a relatively sedentary lifestyle.

The communal-tribal system implies the existence of a clan - a collective of blood relatives who have realized their kinship along one line - male or female. The clan was considered the owner of the fishing territory - hunting grounds and rivers, and later - arable land and pastures. A clan community is understood as an economic organization consisting of one or more clans and foreigners. Foreigners more often became husbands, spouses who settled in the family, or outsiders.

The clan was governed on the basis of the principles of tribal democracy. The highest governing body was the meeting of all adult relatives. At the meeting, the main issues of economic and religious life, chose leaders from authoritative and experienced people.

There was no division of power into economic, military, or judicial power, nor was there a coercive apparatus: if necessary, the offender was punished by the collective itself.

During the period of the late primitive community, tribes arose. A tribe is a large socio-territorial unit uniting several communities. It is characterized by common territory, language, cultural and sacred life.

Maternal clan community. Early primitive communities of the late Paleolithic-Mesolithic were, as a rule, maternal clan communities and had a maternal kinship account.

The reasons for matriarchy lie in the peculiarities of economic life and marriage relations. In the economy of the early natal community, women's labor was of great importance. She was engaged in gathering, which provided (unlike hunting) guaranteed food, looked after housing, hearth and children, stored and processed food. At the stage of early agriculture, a woman’s position in the community was further strengthened: by engaging in hoe farming, she became the main supplier of grain, an essential product.

Family and marriage relations in an early primitive community. The priority of women in family and marital relations was even more convincing. With the emergence of the communal clan system, exogamous group marriage spread. It implies a prohibition of marriage relations within the clan (agamy) and permission to enter into marriage relations with representatives of another specific clan. Two clans, united by marriage at the beginning, formed a tribe. At the same time, economic activities even within the tribe were carried out separately by such clans. Marital relations at the stage of exogamous group marriage, as a rule, were episodic, and the born child remained with the mother. For this reason, group marriage implied group kinship: all men of a neighboring clan of a certain age were called fathers, and all women of their clan belonging to the age class of the biological mother were called mothers.

With the transition to pair marriage, families arise. Since the property of the clan was essentially female, the husband passed into the clan community to the wife. The couple's family was fragile: spouses often worked separately, had no family property (each used the property of their own family), children belonged to the mother's family and were raised by all her relatives. Exogamous group and pair marriages strengthened the primacy of women in the early primitive community.

The early primitive tribal community was characterized by collectivism. It manifested itself in the form of property (land, hunting grounds, fishing dams, homes, boats, etc. belonged to the women of the clan), in production activities (compulsory collective labor was practiced) and in collective consumption. Reciprocal exchange was practiced: each community member contributed as much as he could into the “common pot” and received as much as he was entitled to. The difference between what was contributed and what was received was compensated by an increase or decrease in personal prestige.

Development of productive forces in an early primitive community. During the Late Paleolithic period, stone processing techniques became more complicated: flint plates were now broken off from prismatic cores. Composite tools - a spear with a flint tip and a knife with a handle - are widespread. Specialized tools appear: a harpoon and fishhooks made of bone, a sling and a boomerang. The man learned to sew clothes and make shoes. Hunting, especially round-up hunting, has become highly effective. At sites of this time, archaeologists find huge accumulations of bones of large animals: at the Amvrosievskaya site alone, about 1 thousand bison were found, driven into a ravine and destroyed there. The growth of labor productivity contributed to the growth of the population, and the extermination of game animals caused its migration to the north of Eurasia, to America, to the Japanese Islands.

At the beginning of the Mesolithic in the Northern Hemisphere, the Ice Age ends and the modern climate is established. The flora and fauna are changing, hunting resources are becoming depleted: instead of large animals, relatively small and non-herd animals - elk, wild boar, roe deer and others - began to inhabit vast territories. Under these conditions, man's invention of the bow, the first mechanical weapon, was of utmost importance. A fast-firing and long-range bow made it possible to hunt small, fast animals, as well as birds, and increased a person’s chances of survival.

Knife-shaped plates are now cleaved from pencil-shaped cores, the size and shape of which are similar to a pencil. The edges of such plates, surprisingly smooth, were from 0.5 to 1.5 cm wide. Microliths are widespread - processed flint chips 1-2 cm long, which are used as parts of composite tools - inserts for knives and sickles. Macrolites are widely used - stone axe, adze and chisel. During the Mesolithic period, man learned to make one-tree boats, nets with floats, sleighs, skis and spoons.

Late primitive community. During the Neolithic period, man learned to drill, polish and grind stone. He invents ceramic production, spinning and weaving, and opens copper smelting. New means of transportation appear - wheeled vehicles and sailboats.

Transition to a producing economy. At this time, a person transitions to a productive economy - to agriculture and animal husbandry (domestication). The reasons for domestication are usually seen in the desire of a person to provide himself with a guaranteed product, reducing his dependence on blind chance and the vagaries of nature. The transition to livestock farming in a number of regions is explained by a drop in the number of wild animals due to the high efficiency of appropriating farming or the drying out climate.

Stages of formation and development of agriculture.

First stage. Highly organized gathering. At this stage, man only helped nature by caring for wild plants: he watered wild grains, replanted fruit plants closer to home and cut off dry branches, cut down interfering shrubs, etc.

Second phase. Hoe farming. The main tool of labor at this stage becomes a hoe, later equipped with a metal working part. Hoe farming was usually done by a woman who had a traditional connection with plants and a knowledge of them. For this reason, the position of women in the clan community at the stage of hoe farming became significantly stronger.

Third stage. Arable (plough) farming. The main tool of labor at this stage becomes a plow drawn by draft animals. Plow farming was universally practiced by men who had long associated their lives with animals.

The peoples of Western Asia began to switch to agriculture from the 8th millennium BC, Mesoamerica and the Peruvian Andes - from the 4th millennium BC.

Human domestication of animals. The first domestic bulls, apparently, appeared on the territory of modern Iran and Iraq in the 4th millennium BC, goats and sheep - in Western Asia in the 6th millennium BC. The domestication of the horse (descended from the wild tarpan) took place in the territory from the Dnieper to the Urals in the 4th millennium BC. - much earlier than in Western Europe. However, some researchers (P.A. Lazarev and others) suggest the existence of an independent center of horse breeding in Yakutia.

Consequences of man's transition to a productive economy. Thanks to humanity's transition to agriculture and animal husbandry, the supply of food has stabilized, and this has increased life expectancy and the population of the Earth. Farmers finally switched to a sedentary lifestyle, began to build cities and create the first civilizations. The productive economy made it possible to obtain regular surplus and then surplus product, and this, in turn, led to the formation of early states.

Family and marriage relations in a late primitive community. Domestication caused changes in family and marital relations that were fateful for humanity. With the development of arable farming and animal husbandry in the Late Neolithic, the role of male labor increased. Moreover, all the main means of production (livestock, pastures, arable land, agricultural and craft tools) are used exclusively by men, become male property and could be transmitted within the clan community only through the male line. Since the clan community was interested in preserving its men, there is a transition from matrilocal to patrilocal settlement of spouses: now it is not the husband, but the wife who is forever sent to the spouse’s community. The process of transition to patrilocal settlement was long and gave rise to intermediate forms of compromise. With the emergence of family property (and it was originally the property of men), a transition took place from a paired marriage to an incomparably more durable monogamous marriage. Monogamous marriage in primitive society excluded extramarital affairs for a woman and provided for divorce on the initiative of a woman only in exceptional cases.

A large patriarchal family emerged, which included several generations of male relatives, their wives and children. At the head of the patriarchal family was the eldest man (patriarch), who had the broadest power over the household. Later, slaves began to be included in the patriarchal family, occupying the position of junior family members.

The development of the productive economy (agriculture and animal husbandry) led to the first and second social division of labor.

The first social division of labor. It consists of separating pastoral and agricultural tribes from complex farms.

The reasons for the first social division of labor are usually seen in population growth (demographic theory) or in the drying out of the climate (climatic theory). In the first case, the surplus population, forced into natural areas unsuitable for farming, switched to cattle breeding. In the second case, tribes that had previously been involved in complex farming were forced to become pastoralists. The emergence of cattle breeding was also facilitated by technical advances, primarily the load-lifting wheeled cart with a metal axle and a collapsible dwelling (yurt).

Second social division of labor. It consists in the separation of crafts from agriculture, that is, in the emergence of professional artisans.

The reason for the second social division of labor was the complication of the technological process in metalworking, pottery, leather and weaving. Now, practicing a craft required a lot of time, money and a lot of experience from the community member and did not allow him to provide himself with food in full. The first professional artisans, apparently, were gunsmiths and jewelers.

Consequences of the first and second social division of labor. Regular economic exchange arises between communities (a consequence of the first division of labor) and within communities (a consequence of the second division of labor). Economic exchange led to the emergence of the first measures of value and to the improvement of means of communication - roads, wheeled and water transport. The deepening of professional specialization caused an increase in labor productivity and product quality. And finally, regular economic exchange caused an increase in property inequality and contributed to the beginning of the process of politogenesis.

Political genesis in a late primitive community. In the late primitive community, a conflict arose between the growth of labor productivity and traditional communal psychology. The fact is that the excess product, the ability and desire to receive it, caused discontent and persecution of relatives. The community, trying to maintain property equality, introduced a number of restrictions. In particular, a maximum of personal property was established, and the resulting excess product was periodically destroyed or donated to neighbors. This is how a prestigious economy arises - prestigious feasts and gift exchanges between relatives and friendly communities. In this way, the contradiction between the growth of productive forces and the primitive mentality was resolved within the framework of the traditional worldview.

In the late primitive community, a significant part of the surplus product began to be concentrated in the hands of leaders and family nobility. The clan nobility kept the surplus product, accumulating it for prestigious feasts and disposing of it in the interests of their relatives. For the performance of judicial, priestly and peacekeeping affairs, she received voluntary offerings of food and handicrafts.

The surplus product in late primitive society was obtained through intercommunity and intracommunity exploitation. Chronologically, the earliest intercommunal exploitation was carried out in the form of predatory wars, collection of tribute and indemnity. At the same time, not only the excess product was confiscated from weak tribes, but also part of the product they needed.

Predatory wars increased the stratification of property within the tribe, accelerated the process of formation of private property and made significant changes in psychology. War and military robbery began to be considered an occupation worthy of men, a kind of labor that brought a fair income. In the warring tribes, groups of professional warriors are distinguished, led by military leaders. Having great authority in the tribe, they influence the decision people's assembly and in the struggle for power they oppose the traditional clan nobility. At the same time, the power of the military leader is based not so much on the authority of traditions, but on the strength of the squad, on personal wealth and on the dependence of the community members on it. This is a military version of politogenesis - the formation of a new type of power and control, culminating in the emergence of an early state. The struggle between the new aristocracy and the traditional tribal nobility usually ended in the victory of the new aristocracy led by the military leader, or in a compromise beneficial to it. The military version of politogenesis involves, first of all, intercommunal exploitation.

The aristocratic version of politogenesis is based on strengthening the positions of the traditional clan nobility (elders and priests), which removes ordinary community members from power. Since the power of the traditional aristocracy is sanctified by religion and tradition, they receive the right to life and death of their relatives. Military leaders were chosen only when necessary from the clan nobility and did not have a significant influence on the life of the clan community. The aristocratic version of politogenesis provides for the spread of intra-community exploitation.

Forms of intra-community exploitation during the period of decomposition of primitive society were debt slavery, labor and sharecropping. Debt slavery was initially non-inheritable and temporary, until the debt was worked off. The debtor, bound by work, worked off his debt on the creditor's farm. Sharecropping involves the debtor working on his farm and paying part of the product received to the lender to pay off the debt.

The process of politogenesis lasted for hundreds of years and ended with the formation of early states in the ancient East.

History is divided into two layers: primitive society and civilizations. The starting point is the primitive system, which covers a period of time over two million years when there was no state entities, legal norms have not yet been formed.

During its existence, primitive society went through a significant evolutionary path, during which its sociocultural appearance and economic structure changed. There are two main stages of primitive society: the first is the appropriating economy, the second is the producing economy. The change of stages occurs in the Neolithic era in the 8-3 millennium BC.

The first stage is characterized by the formation of people using the simplest stone tools, living by appropriating natural products (gathering, fishing, hunting), leading a wandering lifestyle, and uniting in local groups under the leadership of a leader. Such simplest form life and social organization, reflecting the low level of development of production, social and cultural relations, is called the primitive herd or ancestral community. However, despite the chaos inner life herds, the first primitive society, rules, standards and other behavioral stereotypes can be traced in it.

Natural instincts begin to give way to sociocultural stereotypes. Relations within the group are egalitarian in nature. The distribution of food and other resources occurs evenly. The basis of such equality is equivalent exchange (both food, tools, wives, etc.). The power of the leader over the group is manifested very expressively. His will is perceived by the herd as the norm.

The complication of social ties, changes in marriage relations (the emergence of exogamy, which prohibited marriages between blood relatives) and the Neolithic Revolution led to the emergence of family-clan groups. There was a change in the herd based on family relationships. Clan communal relations could be built according to the principles of matrilineality or patrilineality.

The history of primitive society after the Neolithic revolution comes to new round. People are moving to a producing economy, which allows them not only to ensure their survival, but also to begin to purposefully provide themselves with food and other items necessary for life. This became a prerequisite for the transition to a sedentary lifestyle. Gradually, individual family-clan groups establish control over a certain territory. The primitive herd turns into a strong, numerically expanded group of producers associated with a certain territory. New social organization is based on self-government and self-regulation.

At this stage of development, primitive society moves to a fixed division of labor, distribution of food, and the principles of equality and egalitarianism are still preserved. But, at the same time, the distribution of spoils could be made taking into account the role functions of its participants (based on gender, age, etc.). The leader also had advantages in the team. Group members concentrated around him, who, in return for the benefits provided to them, recognized the authority of the leader. This is how a pre-state form of power emerged.

In tribal communities, there are already rules of behavior that are mandatory for all members of its collective. Tribal norms were associated with totems and had a mythological overtones. The order of distribution of spoils becomes regulated, and the leader takes control of this process. are self-adjusting in nature: they are supported by interests, religious beliefs and other value systems. But this did not exclude the forced adherence to the norms that primitive society developed. If taboos were violated, the offender could even be expelled or subjected to the death penalty.