Primitive Thought


PRIMITIVE THOUGHT AND CUSTOM: PREHISTORY

PALEOLITHIC AGE (Before 8000 B.C.) Hunters, fishers, and gatherers Stone tools Language Religion and magic Cave art Ritual practices (e.g., burial) Division of labor by sex	NEOLITHIC AGE (About 8000 B.C.) Settled agricultural culture Carving and grinding Pottery Cloth Permanent buildings	BRONZE AGE (About 3000 B.C. Agriculture Urbanism Metallurgy Writing

PRIMITIVE CUSTOMS

SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

FAMILY

GOVERNMENT
AND LAW

	ETHICAL BEHAVIOR means not violating custom
	CONFORMITY
	JUSTICE synonymous with maintaining equilibrium
	Theft, murder, personal injury are PRIVATE MATTERS
	Some transgressions (e.g., treason, witchcraft, and incest) are offenses against the COMMUNITY and are usually punishable by death.
	DEMOCRATIC government
	Decisions made by a COUNCIL OF ELDERS
	GENERAL ASSEMBLY of adult males
	CHIEF rules in accordance with custom

RELIGION AND MAGIC

	Religion originated in AWE and wonder at the universe.
	ANIMISM (all things in nature inhabited by spirits)
	Belief in AFTERLIFE
	Revered animals
	TOTEMISM
	Worship of FERTILITY GODDESS
	Practice of MAGIC
	CAVE ART
	MEDICINE MEN

	Parents & offspring
	Monogramy commom

EXTENDED FAMILY

	Circle of related persons
	Bound by mutual loyalty
	Helps to obtain food and protect members
	Land communally owned
	Weapons, tools, utensils individually owned.

CLAN

	Group of individuals with common ancestors.
	Patrilineal or marilineal.
	Identified by totem

TRIBE

	Community characterized by common speech or distinctive dialect, a common cultural heritage, and a specific inhabited territory
	Strong group loyalty
	Contempt for the peoples and customs of other communities

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

ONLINE
RESOURCES

For more information on this topic, see the following online resources:

	Flints and Stones: Real Life in Prehistory – A fun and informative site. Be sure to take the food quiz.
	Human Prehistory: An Exhibition: Pages on the first humans, their tools, artistic endeavors and early settlements
	Neolithic Settlement – Catal Hoyuk: Information on the Neolithic settlementCatal Hoyuk (EVE) – Virtual tour inside the Neolithic settlement. Movies are slow-loading but worthwhile.
	She’s 10,000 years old – and looking good: Forensics experts recreate face from bone fragments.
	Take the Lucy Test: Evaluate fossil evidence for Australopithecus afarensis, an extinct primate that some say was our evolutionary ancestor.
	Garden of Eden -- True or False?: When and where life began.
	Agricultural Revolution: Information on the process, problems and benefits of man settling into agricultural villages. Deals with technological changes and domestication of plants and animals.
	The Dawn of Technology: The First Stone Tools – Tells how crude stone tools were used in prehistoric times. Includes a section on "How to Carve an Elephant."

DISCUSSION
QUESTIONS

	What role did religion and magic play in primitive society?
	How were cave art and ritual practices expressions of religion and magic?
	Why did Paleolithic man, and subsequent societies, divide labor by sex?
	What improvements did agricultural surpluses make possible for Neolithic man? Why is urbanism a result of progress in agriculture?
	How is the tribe like a modern national state? What are the differences between the two forms of political organization?
	Why did primitive man make a distinction between private and community legal matters?
	What can you expect of a system of justice designed to maintain the equilibrium?
	What does the conservative nature of primitive society suggest about attitudes toward progress, innovation, and change? How would primitive man fare in today's world?
	To what extent was primitive society democratic? Why was membership in the general assembly limited only to adult males? Were there aspects of primitive society which excluded males as the general assembly excluded females? What does this tell us about the status of women in primitive society?

Send mail to Dr. Edrene S. Montgomery with questions or comments about this web site.
Copyright � 1999-2000 Edrene S. Montgomery
Last modified: July 12, 2000