The main periods of primitive society. Stone Age Early Stone Age

Today, very little is known about our ancestors who lived in the Stone Age. For a long time, there was an opinion that these people were cave dwellers who walked with a club. But modern scientists are sure that the Stone Age is a huge period of history, which began about 3.3 million years ago and lasted until 3300 AD. - it was not entirely true.

1. Homo Erectus Tool Factory

In the northeast of Tel Aviv, Israel, hundreds of ancient stone tools have been unearthed during excavations. The artifacts discovered in 2017 at a depth of 5 meters were made by human ancestors. Created about half a million years ago, the instruments told several facts about their creators - the human ancestor known as Homo erectus. It is believed that the area was a kind of stone age paradise - there were rivers, plants and abundant food - everything needed for existence.

The most interesting find of this primitive camp were the quarries. The masons chipped off the edges of the flint, making pear-shaped ax blades from them, which were probably used for digging up food and butchering animals. The discovery was unexpected due to the huge number of perfectly preserved instruments. This makes it possible to learn more about the lifestyle of Homo erectus.

2. The first wine

At the end of the Stone Age, the first wine was made on the territory of modern Georgia. In 2016 and 2017, archaeologists unearthed ceramic shards dating from 5400 - 5000 BC. Fragments of clay jugs found in two ancient settlements of the Neolithic period (Gadakhrili Gora and Shulaveri Gora) were analyzed, as a result of which tartaric acid was found in six vessels.

This chemical is always an undeniable indication that there was wine in the vessels. Scientists also found that grape juice fermented naturally in Georgia's warm climate. To find out whether red or white wine was preferred at the time, the researchers analyzed the color of the residues. They were yellowish, which suggests that the ancient Georgians produced white wine.

3. Dental procedures

In the mountains of northern Tuscany, dentists treated patients 13,000 to 12,740 years ago. Evidence for six such primitive patients has been found in an area called Riparo Fredian. On two teeth, traces of a procedure that any modern dentist would recognize - a cavity filled with filling in a tooth was found. It is difficult to say if any pain relievers were used, but the marks on the enamel were left by some kind of sharp instrument.

Most likely, it was made of stone, which was used to expand the cavity, scraping off the decayed tooth tissue. A familiar technology was also found in the next tooth - the remains of the filling. It was made from bitumen mixed with plant fibers and hair. If the use of bitumen (a natural resin) is understandable, then why the hair and fibers were added is a mystery.

4. Long term home maintenance

Most children are taught in schools that Stone Age families lived only in caves. However, they also built clay houses. Recently, 150 Stone Age camps have been explored in Norway. Stone rings showed that the earliest dwellings were tents, probably made of animal skins held together by rings. In Norway, during the Mesolithic era, which began around 9500 BC, people began to build dug-out houses.

This change took place when the last ice of the Ice Age disappeared. Some "semi-dugouts" were large enough (about 40 square meters) that several families could live in them. The most incredible thing is the consistent attempts to preserve the structures. Some of them were abandoned for 50 years before the new owners stopped supporting the houses.

5. Massacre in Nataruk

Stone Age cultures created exciting examples of art and social relationships, but they also fought wars. In one case, it was just a senseless massacre. In 2012, in Nataruka in northern Kenya, a team of scientists discovered bones sticking out of the ground. It turned out that the skeleton had broken knees. Having cleared the sand from the bones, scientists discovered that they belonged to a pregnant woman of the Stone Age. Despite her condition, she was killed. About 10,000 years ago, someone tied her up and threw her into the lagoon.

Nearby, the remains of 27 other people were discovered, soon there were 6 children and several more women. Most of the remains bore traces of violence, including trauma, fractures, and even pieces of weapons stuck in the bones. It is impossible to say why the hunter-gatherer group was exterminated, but it could have been the result of a dispute over resources. During this time, Nataruk was a lush and fertile land with fresh water - an invaluable place for any tribe. Whatever happened that day, the Nataruk massacre remains the oldest evidence of human warfare.

6. Inbreeding

It is possible that early recognition of inbreeding saved humans as a species. In 2017, scientists discovered the first signs of this understanding in the bones of Stone Age people. In Sungir, east of Moscow, four skeletons of people who died 34,000 years ago were found. Genetic analysis showed that they behaved like modern hunter-gatherer communities when it comes to choosing life companions. They realized that having offspring with close relatives, such as siblings, was fraught with consequences. In Sungir, there were clearly almost no marriages within the same family.

If humans mated at random, the genetic consequences of inbreeding would be more obvious. Like later hunter-gatherers, they must have sought partnerships through social connections with other tribes. Sungir burials were accompanied by complex enough rituals to suggest that important milestones in life (for example, death and marriage) were accompanied by ceremonies. If so, then Stone Age weddings would be the earliest human marriages. The lack of understanding of the relationship with relatives may have doomed Neanderthals, whose DNA shows more inbreeding.

7. Women of other cultures

In 2017, researchers examined ancient dwellings in Lechtal, Germany. Their age was about 4000 years, when there were no large settlements in the area. When the remains of the inhabitants were examined, an amazing tradition was discovered. Most of the families were founded by women who left their villages to settle in Lehtal. This happened from the late Stone Age to the Early Bronze Age.

For eight centuries, women, probably from Bohemia or Central Germany, preferred the men of Lechtal. This movement of women was key to the dissemination of cultural ideas and objects, which in turn helped shape new technologies. The discovery also showed that previous beliefs about mass migration need to be adjusted. Despite the fact that women moved to Lechtal many times, this happened on a purely individual basis.

8. Written language

Researchers may have discovered the oldest written language in the world. In fact, it could be code that represents certain concepts. Historians have long known about the symbols of the Stone Age, but for many years they have ignored them, despite the fact that the cave paintings are visited by countless visitors. Examples of some of the most incredible rock carvings in the world have been found in caves in Spain and France. Between ancient depictions of bison, horses, and lions, tiny symbols were hidden to represent something abstract.

Twenty-six signs are repeated on the walls of about 200 caves. If they serve to convey some information, this "pushes" the invention of writing back 30,000 years ago. However, the roots of ancient writing may be even older. Many symbols painted by Cro-Magnons in French caves have been found in ancient African art. In particular, it is an open corner sign engraved in Blombos Cave in South Africa that dates back 75,000 years.

9. Plague

By the time the bacterium Yersinia pestis made its way to Europe in the 14th century, 30-60 percent of the population was already dead. Ancient skeletons examined in 2017 showed that the plague appeared in Europe during the Stone Age. Six Late Neolithic and Bronze Age skeletons tested positive for plague. The disease spreads across a wide geographic area, from Lithuania, Estonia and Russia to Germany and Croatia. Given the different locations and the two eras, the researchers were surprised when the genomes of Yersinia pestis (the plague bacillus) were compared.

Further investigation showed that the bacterium probably came from the east, when people settled from the Caspian-Pontic steppe (Russia and Ukraine). Arriving about 4,800 years ago, they brought with them a unique genetic marker. This marker appeared in European remains at the same time as the earliest traces of the plague, which indicates that the steppe people brought the disease with them. It is not known how deadly the plague stick was in those days, but it is possible that the steppe migrants fled their homes due to the epidemic.

10. Musical evolution of the brain

It used to be thought that early Stone Age tools developed along with the language. But the revolutionary change - from simple to complex instruments - happened about 1.75 million years ago. Scientists are not sure if the language existed then. An experiment was carried out in 2017. The volunteers were shown the volunteers how to make the simplest tools (from bark and pebbles), as well as the more "advanced" hand axes of the Acheulean culture. One group watched the video with sound, and the other without.

While the participants in the experiment were asleep, their brain activity was analyzed in real time. Scientists found that the "leap" in knowledge was not related to language. The language center of the brain was activated only in people who heard the instructions for the video, but both groups successfully made Acheulean instruments. This could solve the mystery of when and how the human species moved from ape-like thinking to cognition. Many believe that 1.75 million years ago, music first appeared, along with human intelligence.

Undoubted interest among all those who study history,
will call and.

In his ancient period of development, which lasted for several thousand centuries, man experienced three stages. The first stage was the Stone Age. After him, humanity stepped into the bronze, and then into the first stage, which was the longest stage. During its course, a person made various tools, the material for which was fragments of animal bones and sticks with a sharp end. But the most durable was the stone. It was this material that dominated the adaptations of our ancestors. For this reason, this period is called the "Stone Age".

The longest era in the development of mankind is divided by archaeologists into three stages. The first of these is the ancient Stone Age (Paleolithic). The second is the Mesolithic. It is also called the Middle Stone Age. The third stage is the Neolithic. Scientists attribute it to the new Stone Age.

The period of the Stone Age of the Paleolithic era lasted from the beginning of the birth of the human community to the tenth millennium. At this time, a person was an integral part of the surrounding world. He lived in caves, creating tribes, collecting edible plants and hunting small game. Fishing gear made of hard rock (obsidian, quartzite and silicon) has not been ground or drilled. In the late Paleolithic period, fishing developed. The man learned to drill the bone, on which he began to make the first engravings.

At the same time, there is a complication of hunting techniques, housing construction is emerging and a new way of life begins to take shape. The maturation of the tribal system is a prerequisite for the strength of the primitive community. Its structure is becoming more complex. A person begins to develop speech and thinking, which contributes to the expansion of his mental outlook and enrichment of the spiritual world. It was in the late Paleolithic that the art of the Stone Age arose and began to develop. Man has learned to use natural mineral paints with vibrant colors. He mastered new ways to handle soft stone and bone. It was these methods that opened up for him the possibility of conveying the world around him in carving and sculpture. Paleolithic art is remarkable for its amazingly truthful transmission of reality and loyalty to nature.

The Middle Stone Age, or Mesolithic, began in the tenth and ended in the sixth millennium BC. This is characterized by the end of the ice age. The world around us has become similar to the modern one. Man and his way of life have undergone dramatic changes. The tribes disintegrated. They were replaced by senior and most experienced members. The man began to build his dwelling using wood and stone material, leaving the caves. The nascent sense of beauty was reflected in the peculiar ornaments, which served as gold nuggets.

Great changes also affected the methods of making stone tools. Sharp knives appeared, as well as sharpened arrows and spears. In the Mesolithic period, the beginnings of handicrafts, cattle breeding and agriculture arose. Art has also undergone dramatic changes. Images applied to open areas of rocks began to represent various hunting scenes or ritual rituals. The person who occupied the central place in the drawings of the Mesolithic era was depicted in a simplified way, sometimes even in the form of a sign. The images were colored in black and red.

The last third of the Stone Age - the Neolithic Age - lasted from the sixth to the third millennium BC. Man learned to polish and grind tools made of stone materials, took up cattle breeding and agriculture. Pottery appeared. Various utensils and dishes were made from clay. The growth and unification of several clans was a prerequisite for the emergence of tribes.

The Stone Age lasted approximately 3.4 million years and ended between 8700 BC. and 2000 BC with the advent of metalworking.
The Stone Age was a broad prehistoric period during which stone was widely used to make tools with an edge, dot, or percussion surface. The Stone Age lasted approximately 3.4 million years. One of the most important advances in human history has been the development and use of tools. Bone tools were also used during this period, but are rarely preserved in archaeological records. The first instruments were made of stone. Thus, historians refer to the period of time before written history as the Stone Age. Historians divide the Stone Age into three distinct periods based on sophistication and tool design techniques. The first period is called the Paleolithic or Ancient Stone Age.

People in the Mesolithic period were shorter than they are today. The average height of a woman was 154 cm, while that of a man was 166 cm. On average, people lived up to 35 years of age and were more well built than they are today. Their bones show traces of powerful muscles. Physical activity has been a part of their lives since childhood, and as a result, they have developed powerful muscles. But otherwise they were no different from today's population. We probably would not have noticed a Stone Age man if he was wearing modern clothes and walking down the street! The expert can admit that the skull was a little heavier or the jaw muscles were well developed due to the rough diet.
The Stone Age is further subdivided into the types of stone tools used. The Stone Age is the first period in a three-stage system of archeology that divides human technological prehistory into three periods:


Iron age
The Stone Age coincides with the evolution of the genus Homo, the only exception is perhaps the early Stone Age, when pre-Homo species could make tools.
The initial period of the development of civilization is called a primitive society. The emergence and development of the primitive communal system is associated with:
1) with natural and geographical conditions;
2) with the presence of natural reserves.
Most of the remains of ancient people were found in East Africa (in Kenya and Tanzania). The skulls and bones found here prove that the first people lived here more than two million years ago.
There were favorable conditions for resettlement of people here:
- natural reserves of drinking water;
- wealth of flora and fauna;
- the presence of natural caves.

Modern science has come to the conclusion that the whole variety of current space objects was formed about 20 billion years ago. The Sun - one of the many stars in our Galaxy - emerged 10 billion years ago. Our Earth - an ordinary planet in the solar system - is 4.6 billion years old. It is now generally accepted that man began to stand out from the animal world about 3 million years ago.

The periodization of the history of mankind at the stage of the primitive communal system is rather complicated. Several variants of it are known. Most often they use the archaeological scheme. In accordance with it, the history of mankind is divided into three large stages, depending on the material from which the tools used by man were made (Stone Age: 3 million years ago - the end of the 3rd millennium BC; Bronze Age: the end of the 3rd millennium BC) 1st millennium BC - 1st millennium BC; Iron Age - from 1st millennium BC).

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

The most ancient ancestors of modern man resembled great apes, who, unlike animals, were able to produce tools. In the scientific literature, this type of ape-man is called homo habilis - a man of skill. Further evolution of the habilis led to the emergence of 1.5-1.6 million years ago the so-called Pithecanthropus (from the Greek “Pithekos” - a monkey, “Anthropos” - a man), or Arhanthropus (from the Greek “Ahaios” - ancient). The Archanthropes were already human. 200-300 thousand years ago, Archanthropus was replaced by a more developed type of man - paleoanthropus, or Neanderthals (according to the place of their first discovery in the Neandertal area in Germany).

During the Early Stone Age - Paleolithic (about 700 thousand years ago), people penetrated the territory of Eastern Europe. The settlement came from the south. Archaeologists find traces of the stay of ancient people in Crimea (Kiik-Koba caves), in Abkhazia (not far from Sukhumi - Yashtukh), in Armenia (Satani-Dar hill near Yerevan), as well as in Central Asia (south of Kazakhstan, Tashkent region). In the region of Zhitomir and on the Dniester, traces of people staying here 300-500 thousand years ago were found.

Great glacier. About 100 thousand years ago, a significant part of Europe was occupied by a huge glacier up to two kilometers thick (since then, the snowy peaks of the Alps and Scandinavian mountains have formed). The emergence of the glacier affected the development of mankind. The harsh climate forced people to use natural fire, and then to extract it. This helped the person to survive in conditions of a sharp cold snap. People have learned to make stabbing and cutting objects out of stone and bone (stone knives, spearheads, scrapers, needles, etc.). Obviously, the birth of articulate speech and the generic organization of society belongs to this time. The first, still extremely vague religious ideas began to emerge, as evidenced by the appearance of artificial burials.

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

During the late Paleolithic period (10-35 millennia ago), the melting of the glacier ended, and a climate similar to the modern one was established. The use of fire for cooking, the further development of tools, as well as the first attempts to regulate the relationship between the sexes, significantly changed the physical type of a person. It was at this time that the transformation of a skilled person (homo habilis) into a reasonable person (homo sapiens) belongs. According to the place of the first find, he is called Cro-Magnon (Cro-Magnon area in France). At the same time, obviously, as a result of adaptation to the environment in the conditions of the existence of sharp differences in climate between different regions of the globe, the existing races (Caucasian, Negroid and Mongoloid) were formed.

The processing of stone, especially bone and horn, was further developed. Scientists sometimes refer to the Late Paleolithic as the "Bone Age". The finds of this time include daggers, spearheads, harpoons, needles with an eyelet, awls, etc. Traces of the first long-term settlements were found. Dwellings were no longer only caves, but also huts and dugouts, built by man. The remains of jewelry have been found that make it possible to reproduce the clothes of that time.

In the late Paleolithic period, the primitive herd was replaced by a higher form of organization of society - the clan community. A clan community is an association of people of the same clan who have collective property and who manage the economy on the basis of the age and gender division of labor in the absence of exploitation.

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

We have survived many works of art created in the late Paleolithic era. Picturesque colorful rock carvings of animals (mammoths, bison, bears, deer, horses, etc.), which were hunted by people of that time, as well as figurines depicting a female deity, were found in caves and at parking lots in France, Italy, in the South Urals ( the famous Kapova cave).

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

Fishing was added to hunting and gathering. Attempts of people to swim on logs have been noted. Domestication of animals began: a dog was tamed, followed by a pig. Finally, Eurasia was settled: a person reached the shores of the Baltic and the Pacific Ocean. At the same time, as many researchers believe, from Siberia through the Chukotka Peninsula, people came to the territory of America.

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

Significant changes in technology and forms of production during this time are sometimes called the "Neolithic revolution". Its most important result was the transition from collecting, from appropriating to producing economy. A person was no longer afraid to break away from the habitable places, he could settle more freely in search of better living conditions, mastering new lands.

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

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

Among the settlements of farmers in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, one can distinguish Neolithic settlements in Turkmenistan (near Ashgabat), in Armenia (near Yerevan), etc. In Central Asia in the 4th millennium BC. NS. the first artificial irrigation systems were created. On the East European Plain, the oldest agricultural culture was Tripolye, named after the village of Tripolye near Kiev. Settlements of Trypillians were discovered by archaeologists on the territory from the Dnieper to the Carpathians. They were large villages of farmers and pastoralists, whose dwellings were located in a circle. During the excavations of these settlements, grains of wheat, barley, and millet were found. Found wooden sickles with flint inserts, stone grain grinders and other items. The Trypillian culture belongs to the Copper-Stone Age - the Eneolithic (3rd - 1st millennium BC).

The Stone Age is the largest and first period in human history, dating back about two million years.

The name comes from the material used at the time. Weapons and household utensils were most often made of stone.

Periodization The duration of the Stone Age made it necessary to divide it into smaller periods:

• Paleolithic - more than 2 million years ago.
• Mesolithic - 10 thousand years BC NS. Neolithic - 8 thousand years BC NS.

Each of the periods is characterized by certain changes in people's lives. So, for example, in the Paleolithic, people hunted small animals that could be killed with the simplest, primitive weapons - clubs, sticks, pikes. In the same period, however, without exact dates, the first fire was produced, which made it easier for humans to take climate change, they are not afraid of the cold and wild animals.

A bow and arrow appear in the Mesolithic, which allows you to hunt faster animals - deer, wild boars. And in the Neolithic, a person begins to master agriculture, which eventually leads to the emergence of a sedentary way of life. The end of the Stone Age falls on the moment when man mastered metal.

People

In the Stone Age, there were already Homo erectus that appeared 2 million years ago and mastered fire. They also built simple huts and knew how to hunt. About 400 thousand years ago, Homo sapiens appeared, of which Neanderthals developed a little later, who mastered silicon tools.

In addition, these people have already buried their ancestors, which indicates a fairly close relationship, the development of affection and the emergence of moral principles and traditions. And only 10 thousand years ago, Homo sapiens sapiens appeared, spread across the entire territory of the Earth.

During the Stone Age, there were no cities or large communities; people settled in small groups, most often related. The entire planet during this period was inhabited by people. This happened under the influence of ice ages or droughts that affected the daily life of people.

Clothes were made from animal skins, and later they began to use plant fibers. In addition, in the Stone Age, the first decorations were already known, which were made from the fangs of killed animals, shells, and colored stones. Primitive man was also not indifferent to art. This is evidenced by the many found figures carved from stone, as well as numerical drawings in the caves.

Food

Food was obtained by gathering or hunting. They hunted different game depending on the capabilities of the local area and the number of people. After all, one person is unlikely to go against large prey, but several can quite afford to take the risk in order to provide their family with meat for the near future.

Most often, deer, bison, wild boars, mammoths, horses, birds prevailed as prey. Fishing also flourished, in places where there were rivers, seas, oceans and lakes. Initially, hunting was primitive, but later, closer to the Mesolithic and Neolithic, it improved. Common picks were made with stone, serrated points, nets were used to catch fish, and the first traps and snares were invented.

In addition to hunting, food was also collected. All kinds of plants, cereals, fruits, fruits, vegetables, eggs that could be found, allowed not to die of hunger even in the driest period, when it was difficult to find something meat. The diet also included meth from wild bees and fragrant herbs. During the Neolithic era, people learned to grow crops. This allowed him to start a sedentary lifestyle.

The first such sedentary tribes were recorded in the Middle East. At the same time, domesticated animals appeared, as well as cattle breeding. In order not to migrate after the animals, they began to grow.

Lodging

The peculiarities of the search for food determine the nomadic way of life of the people of the Stone Age. When food ran out in some lands and there was no game or edible plants to be found, it was necessary to look for other housing where one could survive. Therefore, not a single family stayed in one place for a long time.

The shelter was simple but reliable to protect from wind, rain or snow, sun and predators. Often they used ready-made caves, sometimes they made a semblance of a house out of mammoth bones. They were set up like walls, and the cracks were filled with moss or mud. A mammoth skin or leaves were placed on top.

The study of the Stone Age is one of the most difficult sciences, because the only thing that can be used is archaeological finds and some modern tribes separated from civilization. This era did not leave any written sources. Primitive weapons, sites, instead of permanent dwellings, were made of stone and organic plants and wood, which had time to decompose over such a long period of time. Only stones, skeletons and fossils of those times go to help scientists, on the basis of which assumptions and discoveries are made.