Anthropological periodization of the history of primitive society. History and cultural studies

A prerequisite students' awareness of individual facts, both interconnected and the sequence of patterns of historical processes that took place in certain territories and in the corresponding historical and geographical environment, is the localization of facts not only in space, but also in time.

The main support for the localization of historical facts in time is the system of knowledge about chronology and the ability to use it. The chronology is divided into 2 parts:

Mathematical-learning ways to study and calculate movement celestial bodies, exact astronomical time;

Historical - establishes, based on the study of written and archaeological sources, the time of an event and the time of occurrence historical sources.

In teaching history, work on the temporal localization of facts is connected with their spatial localization. Only by finding out the time of the occurrence of events, it is possible to determine their connection with previous and subsequent events, their sequence. The main task of chronology is to establish temporal relationships between the facts being studied, which serves as a support for the conscious assimilation of historical knowledge by schoolchildren in general.

Establishing a chronological relationship is a feature of the study of history. It is based on knowledge of the sequence of historical facts, the processes of their sequence or synchrony in one or different countries. Chronological connections are relatively elementary.

The role of chronology as the basis of historical knowledge is especially clearly manifested in students' knowledge of the periodization of historical processes. Periodization requires, first of all, an understanding of the qualitative differences between periods. A solid knowledge of the chronological framework that limits the periods is also necessary. Dates of historical periods are the main element of chronological knowledge. The study of chronology is designed to develop in students the need and habit to localize in time historical facts, establish temporal relationships between them, and if there is not enough data for this, then look for them. It forms in students the concept of historical time, develops the ability to think historical periods, rely in thinking on their chronological knowledge. All this determines the methodology for teaching chronology. Now there is such a periodization of history in the school:

Primitive society: stone (paleolithic, mesolithic, neolithic), bronze, iron age;

Middle Ages: early (V-IX centuries), high (IX-XIII centuries), later (XIV-XV centuries);

New time: 1) XVI-end of XVIII century, 2) end of XVIII-1918 (From the Great French Revolution to the end of the First World War);

Modern times: 1918-present (from the end of the First World War).

It is unacceptable for schoolchildren to formally memorize chronological dates and establish their sequence by simple comparison. The sequence of dates should be known mainly on the basis of semantic connections between facts. Only such training will become the basis for the conscious and lasting memorization of chronology. It should be remembered that schoolchildren are easier to remember the rounded dates of the century, parts of the century, decades, but they keep annual dates in memory more stable.

Chronology is an auxiliary historical discipline that studies the systems of chronology and calendars different peoples and states.

Timeline helps to set dates historical events(year, month, date), determine which event happened earlier, which later, or both events occurred simultaneously (synchronously). Chronology reveals the duration of historical phenomena, the periodization of historical processes, the time of creation of historical sources. School course history contains a chronology of three genera:

1) Some are well-known and should be fixed in the memory of people for life.

2) Other dates are reference when studying certain course history and should be firmly remembered for at least throughout his study. They are usually highlighted in textbooks.

3) The third ones are related and serve to establish a connection between dated facts and supporting facts, to correlate them with a period of history

In addition to consecutive important role play synchronous connections. The establishment of synchronous relations expands the students' historical horizons and prevents their consciousness from being locked into the narrow confines of the history of one country. In conditions of synchronism, the cultural, economic, political development of two or more countries is compared. The same principle is used to identify the different times of similar historical processes in different countries ( e.g. matching dates bourgeois revolutions, the creation of workers' parties, etc.). Such a comparison serves to realize common features and different levels historical development in different countries, establishing general direction development of history.

Methodology

In the fifth grade, the account of years in history is explained by centuries. Attention should be paid to the awareness of the connection between annual dates and the century. For each century, a key dated fact is fixed in the memory of students. In a conversation and in a survey, it is recommended to go not only from year to century, but also vice versa - to ask what events happened in a century, part of a century. Each new date should be related to the previous ones, for example, how many years have passed, how long it lasted, how long years ago was, etc. It is necessary to explain the ordinal account of centuries, for example, the 16th century. begins in 1501 and ends in 1600. It is useful to explain to students what years and why are called the 50s, 60s, because. the analogy with the counting of centuries often misleads them. For example, the 20s begin in 1921 and end in 1930. The beginning is up to 53. The middle is 54-56. The second half is 57-58. End - 1959-60.

In grades 5-6, the study of chronology is helped by the "time tape", which clearly shows the temporal relationships between temporal facts. Its purpose is to overcome some of the difficulties faced by students in grades 5-7. With with great difficulty students learn the length and placement of material in time; the second problem is the large length of time periods and their low saturation with events. The timeline also helps to understand the countdown of the years BC.

Work on the study of chronology is included in the general process of studying history at all stages of the educational process: during the initial study of the material, during its consolidation, repetition, generalization and operation with it. This applies to both grades 5-6 and beyond.

The greatest difficulties in mastering the chronology fall on the 6th grade. This is due to the enormous duration of the period under study, the need to establish synchronous links in the development of the countries under study. In the 6th grade, almost all concepts and skills related to chronology should be formed. All this requires special attention teachers to questions of chronology. The program allocates one lesson to familiarize students with the chronology. the main objective- mastering the concepts of "AD", "BC", mastering the counting of years BC. The main attention should be focused on the assimilation by students of the logic of working with chronologies. To do this, a time line is drawn on the board, similar to the one in the textbook.

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There are 6 reference dates:

5508 - creation of the world

3762 BC - the creation of the world according to the Jewish calendar

776 BC - the first Olympic Games in Ancient Greece

753 BC - Creation of Rome

1 AD - Birth of Christ. The generally accepted date of the beginning of the chronology according to the Gregorian and New Julian calendars.

622 A.H. Beginning of the Muslim lunar calendar

The system of interconnected and correlated dates facilitates their conscious memorization. This is facilitated by tasks for compiling chronological complexes that link dated facts into logical chains. Calendars, chronological and synchronistic tables with the inclusion of conditional drawings help.

It is necessary to teach children to correctly set the ratio of units of time - year, century, millennium - by analogy with the clock; if the number is more than 1000, then the 2 1st numbers +1(1067-10+1=XI century), if less than 1000, then to the 1st number +1(869-8+1=IX century).

1950s-1951-1960

Beginning of the decade - 1st, 2nd, 3rd years, middle - 4th, 5th, 6th years, 2nd half - 7th, 8th, end - 9th, 10th years.

Quarter of a century: 1) 1-25 p., 2) 26-50 p., 3) 51-75 p., 4) 76-100 p.;

Third centuries: 1) 1-33 tons, 2) 34-66 tons, 3) 67-100 tons.

Half a century: 1) 1-50 p., 2) 51-100 p.

Conditional parts of the century: beginning - 1-9 tons, middle - 44-55 tons, end - 91-100 tons.

Counting years by century: 1st-1-100 tons, 2nd-101-200 tons, etc.

After October 4, 1582, October 15 came in Rome according to the papal bull Gregory XIII on the transition from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar. After December 31, 7208, January 1, 1700 came in Russia according to the decree of Peter I on Gregorian calendar instead of julian calendar. The New Year was moved from September 1 to January 1 - the transition from the Byzantine to the Western European number system. After 01/31/1918, 02/14/1918 came in Russia according to the decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the transition to the Gregorian calendar.

Chronological material is necessarily involved during the conversation and the survey. The teacher teaches students to date without coercion all the named facts, to estimate their duration, to find synchronous facts. The teacher highlights individual dates with intonation. This is a continuation of the suggestion that students themselves find the date in chronological table. The assimilation of the name of the date is linked to the chronological data of the students, for which the teacher asks how much time has happened since this or that event. These techniques not only emphasize the date, but also help to incorporate the fact into their knowledge system. With a rare chronological canvas, it is useful to associate a date with a century or part of it, but with an emotional story, interrupting it with chronological calculations is inappropriate.

The dates are placed on the blackboard. As a rule, each named chronological date is written on the board by himself or by the student. The numbers should be clear, clearly visible from the back desks. The most important dates are written in larger numbers, underlined or framed. Consecutive dates are placed in a vertical column, synchronous dates are placed on the same horizontal level. When recording dates and events that took place in Western and Eastern countries, the former are placed on the left, the latter on the right.

A variety of tasks related to the temporal localization of facts: compiling thematic chronological series, complexes. Tasks are possible that involve dating historical phenomena, the compilation of a synchronistic table by one or more students.

Site search:

Absolute and relative chronology. natural science and historical methods establishment of absolute and relative chronology. geological, paleoclimatic,

paleontological, archaeological periodization and chronology and their significance for establishing primitive chronology.

Domestic and foreign researchers on the periodization of primitive history.

Formational, civilizational and other theories of periodization and primitiveness.

Principles and criteria for periodization of the history of primitive society: the level of division of labor (K. Marx), the development of forms of family and marriage relations (M.O.

Kosven), historical forms of the community (S.P. Tolstov, A.I. Pershits), stages of development of the economy and the mode of production (G.E. Markov). Reasons for the difficulties in creating a periodization of the history of primitive society.

Human Origins.

Early stages of anthropogenesis.

The emergence of man

The place of man in biological and anthropological systems. Separation of man from the animal world.

Place of the higher apes in evolutionary process(Ramapitek, Driopithecus, etc.). The specificity of adaptation to the environment of man and modern great apes.

Intermediate evolutionary links between apes and humans. Hypothesis of E. Haeckel about erectus and its further confirmation.

Place and time of the beginning of anthropogenesis and its stages.

Theories of mono- and polycentrism, broad monocentrism, mono- and polygenesis.

Hypotheses about the causes and ways of humanization in the course of anthropogenesis.

Emergence of bipedal locomotion, differentiation of limb functions, development of the brain, emergence of speech and rudiments logical thinking, the use of natural objects and the beginning of their processing.

The ratio of signs that make it possible to distinguish a person from the animal world: morphological changes in the body and social factors.

The role of labor in the process of anthropogenesis: monkey - intermediate creature - man.

Hypotheses about early types of labor activity and their decisive importance in the course of natural selection and anthropogenesis in adapting to changing environmental conditions.

Labor as the basis and content of social activity.

Non-hereditary transfer of social experience, labor skills. Man is a "social animal". The significance of the manufacture and use of tools at the initial and subsequent stages of anthropogenesis. Conditioned reflex and social activity.

Transfer from biological organization flocks (herds) to the primitive collective and the accumulation of social information. The role of heat and the use of fire in the emergence of the social sphere.

The essence and meaning of culture as a sum social information on labor activity and its role in adapting a person to the environment on different stages anthropogenesis.

Biosocial and social levels of development.

Findings of fossil australopithecines in Africa and hypotheses about their place in anthropogenesis (as a distant ancestor of modern man or a dead end line).

Prezinjantrop and the discussion about the so-called "handy man" (Homo habilis) and "pebble tools" (Ya.Ya. Roginsky). Olduvai "culture". The problem of dating and evolutionary continuity. Synchronicity of the habitation of the presinjanthropus and the archeoanthropist.

The era of archeoanthropes

"Human erectus" (Homo erectus) - the creator of the culture of Pithecanthropus (Homo pithecanthropus).

Pithecanthropus Javanese, Sinanthropus, Heidelberg man. Finds at the sites of Vertsselesh, Belzingsleben and others. Morphological features Key words: brain size, facial skeleton, limb differentiation. Origin of Pithecanthropus.

The degree of humanization. Biosocial level of development.

Ways of life support: gathering, hunting. Preposition about the hunting of large animals by pithecanthropes. Tools. Adaptation to the environment and obtaining means of subsistence.

Parking lots and dwellings. The degree of reliability of hypotheses about the beginnings of speech, elements of spiritual culture and social organization (herd, primitive collective, social community) among Pithecanthropes.

The era of paleoanthropes

Neanderthals (Homo primigenius) and their varieties in time and space.

time and place of residence. Biological signs of early, progressive and late Neanderthals. The problem of assigning Neanderthals to one or different types. Acheulean and Mousterian Neanderthals. Natural selection as a sign of the incompleteness of the humanization of the Neanderthals. Hypotheses about the degree of humanization.

Periodization of history

The concept of bio-social level of development. The controversy of attributing Neanderthals to the species "Homo sapiens" in connection with genetic data, and the question of the place of different groups of Neanderthals in anthropogenesis. Pithecanthropes and Neanderthals. Early and late Neanderthals (Chapelle group, Eringsdorf, finds in the Kafzeyah cave in Palestine, etc.).

Appropriating activity of Neanderthals: gathering, hunting, the assumption of the beginnings of fishing. Tools and weapons and their role in adapting to the environment and obtaining a livelihood.

Settlements and dwellings of Neanderthals.

Assumptions about the use of clothing, family and social organization (great-community), religious beliefs, art. Argumentation and degree of reliability.

Late European Neanderthals in the conditions of the onset of the glacial climate (Wurm era) are contemporaries of modern humans.

Genetic differences between late paleoanthropes and neoanthropes.

The emergence of a modern man and the stages of development of primitive society

Completion of anthropogenesis and the emergence of a modern human species, neoanthropus (Neoanthropus) in the second half of the Late Pleistocene.

Areas of neoanthrope formation (mono-polycentrism) and the problem of its specific unity (mono-polygenesis).

Hypotheses about the origin of the neoanthrope: from different groups of Neanderthals, from the "presapiens" (finds from Swanscombe and Fonteshevade), from African archeoanthropes.

Fundamental differences between the neoanthrope and earlier fossil species: completeness natural selection, adaptation to the environment on the basis of non-hereditary social experience (labor activity).

The final transition in the Late Paleolithic era from biosocial to social development.

Neoanthropes are social beings. Biological signs and level of intelligence.

Neoanthrope - a contemporary of the late Neanderthals, their genetic differences.

Expansion of the original ecumene of neoanthrope settlement and racial differentiation of mankind.

The beginning of the addition in the late Paleolithic-Mesolithic of the Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Negroid and intermediate races. The process of racegenesis. The assumption of the adaptive value of racial characteristics (G.F. Debets, N.N. Cheboksarov, V.P. Alekseev). The species unity of all human races and racial types. Morphological features of human races.

The addition of "ready" man and society. The determining role of labor and social experience in mining life's blessings and social activities.

Development of thinking and speech. The beginning of the formation of ethnic communities.

Neoanthrope settlement of America, Australia and Oceania. The beginning of the addition of economic and cultural types (CCT)

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Chronology of the history of primitive society.

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The primitive communal system was the longest stage in the history of mankind, stretching for more than a million years.

Define it bottom face anything accurate today is simply impossible, since in the newly discovered bone remains of our distant ancestors most specialists see the pre-human and the human, and from time to time the prevailing opinion changes.

So, today, some scientists believe that the oldest man arose 1.5 - 1 million years ago, others attribute his appearance to more than 2.5 million years ago. Upper gra The primitive community system fluctuates within the last 5 thousand years.

years, varying on different continents. In Asia and Africa, the first civilized societies and states took shape at the turn of 4 and 3 thousand BC. e., and in America - in the 1st millennium AD. e.

It is no easier to deal with periodization primitive history, more precisely, its periodizations, since in parallel there are several periodizations (special and general historical) of primitive history, partially reflecting the nature of the disciplines that participate in their development.

Of the special periodizations, the most important archaeological, based on differences in the material and technique of making tools.

This periodization was scientifically developed in the 19th - early 20th century. and was based on the division fixed in the mythological tradition of the ancients and their scientific works ancient history for three centuries - stone, bronze (copper) and iron.

The Stone Age begins with Paleolithic(Old Stone Age), in which most scientists now distinguish eras Early (Lower), Middle and Late (Upper) Paleolithic.

Then comes the transition period Mesolithic(Middle Stone Age), which is sometimes called " postpaleolithic » (epipaleolithic), or " Pre-Neolithic » (Protoneolithic), sometimes they don't stand out at all.

The final era of the Stone Age - Neolithic(new stone age).

At the end of it, the first copper tools appear, which gives reason to talk about a special stage Eneolithic, or chalcolith.

Archaeological periodization opens up wide possibilities for the absolute and relative chronology of primitive history.

Chronology and periodization in the study of history

For absolute dating various methods of natural sciences are used: isotopic radiocarbon and potassium-argon(according to decay time radioactive elements), geochronological(according to the annual layers of band clays), dendrochronological(according to the annual rings of trees), etc. Together, they now allow, with greater or lesser tolerances, to date the epochs and stages of the Stone Age. And starting from bronze age also appears calendar (true) dating on the basis of the monuments of ancient civilizations adjacent to primitive societies.

For most ecumene(the part of the world mastered by mankind) the following milestones are relevant:

– lower paleolithic finished around 100,000.

years ago;

– Middle Paleolithic- 45-40 thousand years ago;

– Upper Paleolithic- 12-10 thousand years ago;

– Mesolithic- not earlier than 8 thousand.

years ago;

– Neolithic– not earlier than 5 thousand years ago;

– bronze age lasted until the beginning of 1 thousand BC. e., when it started age of iron.

Relative dating is achieved by comparing the cultural layers or archaeological types themselves with each other or by comparing them with changes in natural environment. Of particular importance is the synchronization of archaeological epochs with the geological periods of the Earth's history.

The time of human existence approximately corresponds to Quaternary. It is divided into two eras: preglacial and glacial ( Pleistocene) and postglacial ( Holocene) . Archaeologically, the Pleistocene corresponds to the Paleolithic and, to a large extent, to the Mesolithic. The Neolithic is already the time of the Holocene.

Archaeological periodization is entirely based on technological criteria and does not full view about the development of production in general.

It allows us to judge only the development of the tools of labor and, thus, to some extent indirectly, the development of social relations.

But archaeological periodization cannot claim to be universal, because due to differences in the natural environment, societies of the same type in terms of development level may or may not use metals, and in some cases even stone.

Paleoanthropological (paleanthropological) periodization of primitive history is based on the criteria of human biological evolution.

This is the selection of the epochs of the existence of the most ancient, ancient and fossil modern man, i.e. archanthrope, paleoanthrope (paleanthrope) and neoanthrope. The taxonomy of the people themselves, distinguished as a family of hominids or a subfamily of hominids, their genera and species, as well as their names, also varies greatly among different researchers.

A special aspect of the periodization of primitive history is its division into the history of primitive societies that existed before the appearance of the first civilizations, and societies that coexisted with these and later civilizations.

The first are studied mainly archaeologically, the second - with the help of traditional historical sources, primarily written ones. Equally important is the ethnographic study of the tribes stuck in primitiveness that existed recently and now exist.

None of these periodizations, however, is able to replace the general historical periodization of the most ancient past of mankind, the development of which has been going on for more than a century, mainly based on ethnological and archaeological data.

The first serious attempt in this direction was made by the eminent American ethnologist Lewis Henry Morgan.

Using the established in the 18th century. articulation historical process for eras savagery, barbarism and civilization and based mainly on the criterion of the level of development of productive forces (“production of means of life”), he singled out in each of the named epochs the lower, middle and higher stages. The lowest stage of savagery begins with the appearance of a person and articulate speech, the middle stage with the emergence of fishing and the use of fire, the highest stage with the invention of the bow and arrows.

The transition to the lower stage of barbarism is marked by the spread of ceramics, to the middle stage by the development of agriculture and cattle breeding, to the higher stage by the introduction of iron.

With the invention of writing, the era of civilization begins.

This periodization was borrowed F. Engels, who generalized Morgan's periodization, defining the era of savagery as the time appropriating, and the era of barbarism - like time producing economy. He called the initial stage of primitive history, corresponding to the lowest stage of savagery, the period " human herd". The uniqueness of the final stage of primitive history, corresponding to the highest stage of barbarism, was shown by him in a special chapter (“Barbarism and Civilization”) of his work “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State”.

AT Soviet period theoretical legacy of F.

Engels ( « The role of labor in transformationmonkeys into humans") emphasized that long time ruled out any inclinations to correct his views on the history of primitiveness, or, moreover, criticism.

On a literally theoretical foundation, the mental constructions of historians who specialized in the study of this history were built. But even the most thoughtful of them have not stood the test of time. In particular, it turned out that the use of only the level of development of productive forces as a criterion for the periodization of primitive history leads to theoretical inconsistencies. So, even the creators of some civilizations did not yet know the production use of metals, while some of the late primitive tribes had already mastered the smelting of iron.

Therefore, scientists turned to the criterion on which the division of the entire historical process is based: differences in the mode of production and, in particular, in the forms of production relations.

In this regard, an attempt was made to trace the development of forms of primitive property, which led to the identification of the following stages:

–fore-communities (primitive human herd);

–primitive tribal (early primitive) community;

– primitive neighbor (late primitive) community.

Primitive history as such begins with the era of the fore-community (primitive human herd, anthroposociogenesis).

This era opens with the emergence of the most ancient people-archanthropes, who used the most primitive tools in their activities and formed the first, still amorphous production teams. The main content of the era is the overcoming in the process of labor activity of the remnants of the animal state inherited from herds of apes and prehumans, the strengthening social connections and at the same time the completion of the biological development of man himself.

The era of the primitive community opens with the emergence of the first ordered forms of social organization - the genus and tribal community.

It is here that the main features are fully expressed. primitive communal system- more or less consistent collectivism in production and consumption, common property and egalitarian distribution.

As a result of the progressive development of all branches of economic activity and the growth of the surplus product, the common property of the community begins to be replaced by the separate property of individual households, equal distribution is replaced by labor, community-clan ties are broken and give way to community-neighborhood in their early, primitive form.

Appear initial forms exploitation, along with which the surplus product begins to turn into surplus, private property, social classes and statehood are born.

The lower limit of the era in more advanced societies falls on the time of the late Neolithic, in less advanced societies, for the most part, on the time of metals. Upper bound- appearance class societies and states - the most advanced societies passed over about 5 thousand years ago, the most backward in their development have not passed over to the present day.

hard to specify absolute age these epochs, and not only because of differences in views on their relationship with the archaeological and paleoanthropological epochs.

After all, already from the time of the early primitive community, humanity developed extremely unevenly, which led to the above-mentioned coexistence of societies that were very different in their stage of belonging.

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Periodization of primitive history

Ancient period human history(prehistory) - from the appearance of the first people to the emergence of the first states - was called the primitive communal system, or primitive society.

At this time, not only was there a change physical type a person, but also tools, dwellings, forms of organization of collectives, families, worldviews, etc.

Taking into account these components, scientists have put forward a number of systems of periodization of primitive history.

The most developed is archaeological periodization, which is based on a comparison of man-made tools, their materials, forms of dwellings, burials, etc. According to this principle, the history of human civilization is divided into centuries - stone, bronze and iron. In the Stone Age, which is usually identified with the primitive communal system, three epochs are distinguished: Paleolithic (Greek - ancient stone) - up to 12 thousand years ago.

years ago, Mesolithic (middle stone) - up to 9 thousand years ago, Neolithic (new stone) - up to 6 thousand years ago.

Epochs are divided into periods - early (lower), middle and late (upper), as well as cultures characterized by a uniform complex of artifacts. The culture is named according to the place of its modern location (“Shel” - near the city of Shel in Northern France, “Kostenki” - from the name of the village in Ukraine) or according to other signs, for example: “culture of battle axes”, “culture of log burials”, etc. .

The creator of the cultures of the Lower Paleolithic was a man of the Pithecanthropus or Sinanthropus type, the Middle Paleolithic - Neanderthal, the Upper Paleolithic - Cro-Magnon.

This definition is based on archaeological research in Western Europe and cannot be fully extended to other regions.

Chronology and periodization

In the territory former USSR about 70 sites of the Lower and Middle Paleolithic and about 300 sites of the Upper Paleolithic were studied - from the Prut River in the west to Chukotka in the east.

In the Paleolithic period, people initially made rough hand axes from flint, which were unified tools.

Then the manufacture of specialized tools begins - these are knives, piercers, side-scrapers, composite tools, such as a stone ax. In the Mesolithic, microliths predominate - tools made of thin stone plates, which were inserted into a bone or wooden frame.

At the same time, the bow and arrows were invented.

The Neolithic is characterized by the manufacture of polished tools from soft rocks of stone - jade, slate, slate. The technique of sawing and drilling holes in stone is being mastered.

The Stone Age is replaced by a short period of the Eneolithic, i.e. the existence of cultures with copper-stone tools.

The Bronze Age (Latin - Eneolithic; Greek - Chalcolithic) began in Europe from the 3rd millennium BC.

BC. At this time, in many regions of the planet, the first states arise, civilizations develop - Mesopotamia, Egypt, the Mediterranean (early Minoan, early Helladic), Mexican and Peruvian in America.

On the Lower Don, settlements of this time were studied in Kobyakovo, Gnilovskaya, Safyanovo, on the shores of the Manych lakes.

The first iron products appeared on the territory of Russia in the 10th-7th centuries. BC - among the tribes that lived in the North Caucasus (Scythians, Cimmerians), in the Volga region (Dyakovo culture), Siberia and other regions. It should be noted that frequent and massive migrations of various peoples from the east, passing through the territory Central Russia and the Don steppes, destroyed the settlements of the settled population, destroyed entire cultures that could favorable conditions develop into civilizations and states.

Another periodization system based on complex characteristic material and spiritual cultures, proposed in the 70s XIX years in.

L. Morgan. At the same time, the scientist was based on a comparison of ancient cultures with modern cultures American Indians. According to this system, primitive society is divided into three periods: savagery, barbarism and civilization.

The period of savagery is the time of early tribal system(Paleolithic and Mesolithic), it culminates in the invention of the bow and arrow. During the period of barbarism, ceramic products appeared, agriculture and animal husbandry arose. The civilization is characterized by the appearance of bronze metallurgy, writing and states.

In the 40s of the XX century.

Soviet scientists P.P. Efimenko, M.O. Kosven, A.I. Pershits and others proposed systems of periodization of primitive society, the criteria for which were the evolution of forms of ownership, the degree of division of labor, family relationships etc.

In a generalized form, such a periodization can be represented as follows:

era of the primitive herd;
the era of the tribal system;
the era of the decomposition of the communal-tribal system (the emergence of cattle breeding, plow farming and metal processing, the emergence of elements of exploitation and private property).

All of these periodization systems are imperfect in their own way.

There are many examples when stone tools of the Paleolithic or Mesolithic form were used among peoples. Far East in the XVI-XVII centuries, while they had a tribal society and developed forms of religion, families. So optimal system periodization should take into account largest number indicators of the development of society.

The primitive communal system was the longest in time - more than a million years - stage in the history of mankind. It is not easy to determine its lower limit with any precision, since in the newly discovered bone remains of our distant ancestors, most experts see either a prehuman or a human, and from time to time the prevailing opinion changes. At present, some scientists believe that the most ancient man (and thus the primitive society) arose 1.5-1 million years ago, others attribute its appearance to more than 3.5 million years ago. Top face the primitive communal system fluctuates within the last 5 thousand years, differing on different continents. In Asia and Africa, the first class societies and states took shape at the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennium BC. e., in America - in the 1st millennium AD. e., in other areas of the ecumene - even later.

The situation is no simpler with the periodization of primitive history, more precisely, its periodizations, since in parallel there are several special and general (historical) periodizations of primitive history, partially reflecting the nature of the disciplines involved in their development.

Of the special periodizations, the most important is the archaeological one, based on differences in the material and technique of making tools. Already known to ancient Chinese and Roman philosophers, the division of ancient history into three centuries - stone, bronze (copper) and iron - received scientific development in the 19th and early 20th centuries, when the epochs and stages of these centuries were basically typified. The Stone Age begins with the Old Stone Age (Paleolithic), in which most scientists now distinguish the epochs of the early (lower), middle and late (upper) Paleolithic. Then follows the transitional era of the Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic), which is sometimes called the "Post-Paleolithic" (Epipaleolithic), or "Pre-Neolithic" (Protoneolithic), sometimes not distinguished at all. The final era of the Stone Age is the New Stone Age (Neolithic). At the end of it, the first tools made of copper appear, which gives reason to speak of a special stage of the Eneolithic, or Chalcolithic. The schemes of the internal periodization of the New Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages at the stage of different researchers are very different from each other. Even more different are the cultures or phases distinguished within the stages, named after the areas where they were first discovered.

Archaeological periodization opens up wide possibilities for the absolute and relative chronology of primitive history. Various methods are used for absolute dating. natural sciences: isotopic radiocarbon and potassium-argon (according to the time of decay of radioactive elements), geochronological (according to the annual layers of ribbon clays), dendrochronological (according to the growth rings of trees), etc. Together, they now allow dating epochs and stages of the stone age with greater or lesser tolerances. century. And starting from the Bronze Age, calendar (true) dating also appears on the basis of the monuments of ancient civilizations that coexisted with primitive societies. For most of the ecumene, the Lower Paleolithic ended approximately 100 thousand years ago, the Middle Paleolithic - 45-30 thousand years ago, the Upper Paleolithic - 12-10 thousand years ago, the Mesolithic - not earlier than 8 thousand years ago and the Neolithic - not earlier than 5 thousand years ago. The Bronze Age lasted until the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. when the Iron Age began.

Relative dating is achieved by comparing the cultural layers or archaeological types themselves with each other or by comparing them with changes in the natural environment: geological steps, paleontological (paleozoological and paleobotanical) epochs, etc. Synchronization of archaeological epochs with geological periods of history is of particular importance. Earth. The time of human existence approximately corresponds to the Quaternary period. It is divided into two epochs: pre-glacial and glacial (Pleistocene) and post-glacial (Holocene). In the Pleistocene, significant areas of Northern Eurasia and North America were periodically subjected to glaciation. Usually there are four advances and retreats of glaciers and, accordingly, four glacial and three interglacial epochs. In relation to Europe, for epochs of glaciation, the terms “gunz”, “mindel”, “riss” and “wurm” are used (after the names of alpine rivers, where glacial deposits were well traced). Gyunts and almond belong to the lower Pleistocene, riss - to the middle, wurm - to the upper Pleistocene. Archaeologically, the Pleistocene corresponds to the Paleolithic and to a large extent, and perhaps completely, to the Mesolithic. The Neolithic is already the time of the Holocene.

Although archaeological periodization is entirely based on technological criteria and does not give a complete picture of the development of production in general, its creation was a major achievement. scientific achievement. It made it possible to judge the development of tools of labor, and thereby, to a certain extent, the development of social relations. At the same time, archaeological periodization has a major drawback: it is not universal. First, with deployment archaeological sites outside of Europe, the impossibility of linking the cultures and phases allocated on different continents and territories, i.e., regional periodizations, became clear. Then it touched on larger stages and even centuries. It was found that due to differences in the natural environment, societies of the same type in terms of development may or may not use iron, bronze, and in some cases even stone. Archaeological periodization has lost general acceptance. Separate archeologies abroad have become in various ways combine in their schemes of periodization of the epoch geological development Earth, stages of human biological evolution and stages of economic progress. Other archaeologists, including domestic archaeologists, being skeptical about such eclectic combinations, continue to improve archaeological schemes, but for the most part limit them to one or another regional framework. In general, archaeological periodization has turned from a global into a set of regional ones, but even in this form it remains of considerable importance.

The paleoanthropological (paleanthropological) periodization of primitive history, based on the criteria of human biological evolution, is more limited in its goals. This is the allocation of the epochs of the existence of the most ancient, ancient and fossil modern man, i.e., archanthrope, paleoanthrope (paleanthrope) and neoanthrope. The taxonomy of the people themselves, distinguished as a family of hominids or a subfamily of hominins, their genera and species, as well as their names, varies greatly among different researchers. The most controversial periodization place of the so-called skilled man, in which some researchers still see a pre-human, others already a man. Nevertheless, paleoanthropological periodization in its most established part echoes the archaeological periodization of primitiveness.

A special aspect of the periodization of primitive history is its division into various stages of the formation of society. Here the main stages of the ancestral community, the tribal community and the era of class formation are distinguished.

The era of the ancestral community - the time of the formation of man himself as a biological being and the addition of the rudiments social relations. The periodization and chronological boundaries of the era remain controversial. The lower limit is debatable due to differences in views on the difference between the pre-human and real human, the upper one - due to the unequal interpretation of the social organization of the time of the Middle Paleolithic and Paleoanthropes. Until relatively recently, almost all domestic scientists considered this time as the time of the fore-community, not finding in it signs of a communal system. But new finds have shown that even then artificial collective dwellings, clear signs of adhesion of human collectives and other phenomena that were previously associated only with the onset of the Upper (Late) Paleolithic, arose. This made it legitimate to conclude that the upper boundary of the epoch of the fore-community should be lowered to the time of the Middle Paleolithic and the Paleoanthropes. Legal, but optional. After all, the biological appearance of paleoanthropes continued to change, therefore, the biological development of man has not yet been, using dialectical terminology, “removed” by the social. Therefore, the question remains open for now.

The era of the primitive community opens with the emergence of the first ordered forms of social organization - the clan and tribal community. it is here that the main features of the primitive communal system are fully expressed - more or less consistent collectivism in production and consumption, common property and egalitarian distribution. These features are especially pronounced at the stage of the early primitive community and are preserved, although they no longer dominate, at the stage of the late primitive community. The lower boundary of the era is the Middle Paleolithic (the time of the Paleoanthropes) or the Upper Paleolithic (the time of the Neoanthropes), the upper one is, as a rule, the Neolithic.

If the era of the fore-community is the time of formation, and the era of the primitive community is the time of maturity, then the era of class formation is the time of the collapse of the primitive communal system. This last epoch is everywhere marked by the progressive development of all branches of economic activity and the growth of surplus product. The common property of the community begins to be supplanted by the isolated property of individual households, equal distribution is replaced by labor, community-clan ties are broken and give way to community-neighborhood in their early, primitive form. The initial forms of exploitation appear, along with which the surplus product begins to turn into a surplus product, private property, social classes and statehood are born. The lower limit of the era in more advanced societies falls on the time of the late Neolithic, in less advanced societies - for the most part at the time of metals. The upper limit - the emergence of class societies and states - was crossed by the most advanced societies about 5 thousand years ago, the most backward in their development has not been crossed to this day.

Thus, views on the nature of the main epochs of primitive history are more uniform than views on their relationship with archaeological and paleoanthropological epochs. Only if we proceed from the most established points of view, the epochs of the general (historical) periodization can be compared with the most important links of archaeological and paleoanthropological schemes. It is even more difficult to indicate the absolute age of these epochs, and not only because of differences in views on their relationship with archaeological and paleoanthropological epochs. After all, starting from the time of the already early primitive community, humanity developed extremely unevenly, which led to the coexistence of societies that were very different in their stage affiliation.

History of primitive society (hereinafter - IPO) - oldest stage in the history of mankind, the longest chronologically. The term was introduced by Soviet scientists. In foreign literature, it has the names "prehistory", "prehistory" (due to the lack of writing). The subject of IPO research is the society and culture of mankind, physiology, intellectual ability. IPO is part of a single historical science. Specificity: others historical disciplines are based on the study of written sources, the IPO has practically no such sources. Historians are forced to reconstruct the IPO on the basis of data from archeology, ethnology, paleoanthropology, paleozoology, and paleobotany. IPO reconstruction is the result of a synthesis of data from a number of other sciences. Main aspect such studies (DNA) - they allow you to reconstruct the history of the emergence of the person himself.
The extreme similarity of a person at the level of DNA structure is observed with monkeys, especially with chimpanzees, with whom we are almost 99% similar at the genetic level. (+33% with Narcissus, 75% with a dog). This again proves the origin of man from one of the species of fossil monkeys.

Historiography of the history of primitive society.

The earliest information about primitiveness - ethno-observations ancient eastern civilizations. Writing begins with ancient egypt. Egyptian texts contain information about neighbors who were at a lower level of development. In ancient times, the center of civilization was the Mediterranean, the peoples of this region, the Greeks and Romans, are considered civilized. Ancient researchers were also interested in them, there is enough great material in ancient literature about peoples who were lower in terms of the level of development of Ancient Greece and Rome. In the Middle Ages, an era of decline and stagnation of scientific thought began in Western Europe. All postulates Holy Scripture were taken on faith. The concept of primitiveness remained entirely dogmatically Christian. This means that the entire history of mankind began with Adam and Eve. With the beginning of the era of the Great geographical discoveries Europeans encountered peoples who were at a significantly lower stage of development. Charles Darwin's theory of evolution, set forth in 1859, is important for understanding human development. In subsequent times, an increasing number of finds of ancient remains of the human skeleton began to confirm this theory. 20th century – large scientific deep processing, a large number of new archaeological discoveries, data attraction natural sciences. Modern stage: refinement and addition of human ancestral forms. Further development of the Darwinian theory of evolution in conjunction with the achievements of genetics.

Chronology of the history of primitive society.

About 6 thousand years have passed since the emergence of the first states and writing. With regard to the chronology of the IPO, two types of definitions of events and phenomena should be distinguished:

absolute chronology - when a specific, more or less exact date events (e.g. year, century, number of thousands of years ago),
chronology is relative, when, considering and comparing a number of events and phenomena, we only determine their position in time relative to each other, without naming specific dates (for example: site A existed before site B, but later than site C).

As for the methods of absolute chronology, they are based on chemical studies. The rate of decay of radioactive elements is constant and practically does not depend on conditions environment. Knowing this rate and measuring the content of such elements in an archaeological find, it is possible to calculate how much time has passed since the death of the organism or the manufacture of the tool. Relative chronology methods are primarily geological and paleontological methods, the essence of which is to identify the relative position of various geological and cultural layers, that is, in other words, to establish and study stratigraphy. Periodization is closely related to chronology.

Periodization of the history of primitive society.

Archaeological periodization was created in the 19th century, it is based on the use of raw materials from which tools were made, Thomsen. The whole history is divided into three centuries: stone (rp - 2-3 million - 250 thousand BC; SRP - 250-40 thousand BC; VP - 40-12 thousand BC. ; Mez - 10-5 thousand BC; Neo - 5-3 thousand BC; Eneo - 3-2 thousand BC), bronze (2 thousand BC. - 8th century BC) and iron (8-7th century BC). John Lubbock, Paleolithic and Neolithic. O. Thorell, Mesolithic.

Geology - the science of change earth's surface and its structures. The last 65 million years of the Earth's history is called Cenozoic era. The final stage of the Cenozoic is usually distinguished as the Quaternary period. Eocene - 54 million (monkeys), Oligocene (38 million), Miocene - 23 million (Hominoids), Pliocene - 5.5 million (Hominids), Pleistocene - 1.7 million, Holocene - 10 thousand BC. e.

A large number of tools - additional periods (technique of stone processing, processing of tools). Frenchman Gabriel de Mortilley Shell, ashel, Mousterian.

The primitive communal system is the longest stage of history (more than a million years), so it is not easy to determine its lower limit quite accurately. At present, some scientists believe that the most ancient man arose 1.5-1 million years ago, others attribute his appearance to more than 2.5 million years ago.

Of great importance is the synchronization of archaeological epochs with the geological periods of the Earth's history. The time of human existence approximately corresponds to the Quaternary period. It is divided into two epochs: Pleistocene and Holocene. In the Pleistocene, significant areas of Northern Eurasia and North America were periodically subjected to glaciation. Usually there are four advances and retreats of glaciers and, accordingly, four glacial and three interglacial epochs. In relation to Europe, for the epochs of glaciation, "gunz", "mindel", "riss" and "wurm" are used. Archaeologically, the Pleistocene corresponds to the Paleolithic and Mesolithic. The Neolithic is already the time of the Holocene.

Archaeological periodization opens up wide possibilities for the absolute and relative chronology of primitive history.

More limited in its goals is the paleoanthropological periodization of primitive history, based on the criteria of human biological evolution. This is the selection of the epochs of the existence of the most ancient, ancient and fossil modern man, i.e. archanthrope, paleoanthrope and neoanthrope. Paleoanthropological periodization in its most established part echoes the archaeological periodization of primitiveness.

For all the importance of special periodizations of primitive history, none of them is able to replace the general (historical) periodization.

The typological series is the ancestral community (primitive human herd), early primitive and late primitive, primitive neighboring (proto-peasant) communities - and corresponds to the main stages of primitive history.

The primitive communal formation was the longest in the history of mankind. Its lower edge, according to the latest data, dates back to at least one and a half million years ago, while some scientists attribute it to a much more distant time. It is not easy to determine this line with any certainty, and views on its dating often change, since in the newly discovered bone remains of our distant ancestors, most experts see either prehuman or human. The upper limit of the primitive communal formation fluctuates within the last 5 thousand years: in Asia and Africa, the first civilizations arose at the turn of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. e., in Europe - in the 1st millennium BC. e., in America - in the 1st millennium AD. e., in other areas of the ecumene - even later.

The periodization of the history of primitive society is a complex and not yet fully resolved scientific problem.

This applies both to general (historical) periodization and to special periodizations - archaeological, anthropological, etc.

The general periodization of primitive history was first created in the 1870s by the prominent American ethnographer Lewis Henry Morgan, who came close to the historical-materialistic understanding of primitiveness. Using the established in the XVIII century. dividing the historical process into epochs of savagery, barbarism and civilization, and based mainly on the criterion of the level of development of productive forces (“production of means of life”), he divided the epochs of savagery and barbarism into lower, middle and higher stages. The lowest stage of savagery begins with the appearance of a man and articulate speech, the middle stage with the emergence of fishing and the use of fire, the highest stage with the invention of a bunch and arrows. The transition to the lower stage of barbarism is marked by the spread of pottery, with the development of agriculture and cattle breeding, the middle stage begins, and with the development of iron, the highest stage of barbarism. With the invention of alphabetic writing - the alphabet - the era of civilization, i.e., class society, begins.

The first scientific periodization of primitive history was highly appreciated by F. Engels, who noted, however, that it would remain in force only until a significant expansion of the material forced changes. At the same time, Engels himself laid the foundation for its revision. He generalized Morgan's periodization, defining the era of savagery as the time of appropriation, and the era of barbarism as the time of the productive economy. He also emphasized the qualitative originality of the highest stage of barbarism, highlighting its consideration in a special chapter (“Barbarism and Civilization”) of his work “The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State”. In his other works, he showed the same originality of the initial stage of primitive history corresponding to the lowest stage of savagery, defining it as the time of the human herd. L. G. Morgan's scheme does not take into account the fundamental boundaries separating the stage of maturity of the primitive communal system from the stages of its formation and decline, and a significant expansion actual material made it necessary to develop a new historical-materialistic periodization of primitive history.

Such a periodization was proposed in the 1940s on the basis of the same, but significantly refined criterion of the level of development of productive forces (S.P. Topstov). It singled out three main stages of primitive history: the primitive human herd (the formation of primitive society, begins with the use of tools), the primitive community (the maturity of primitive society, begins with the introduction of tools for the production of tools) and military democracy (the transformation of primitive society into a class society, begins with the development of metal). The first and third of these stages were compared with the lowest stage of savagery and the highest stage of barbarism, and the second stage was divided into four periods, correlated (again with amendments in the criteria) with certain stages of the "savage" and "barbarian" eras. Thus, the proposed generalizing scheme did not cancel Morgan's periodization, refined for a more detailed description of the primitive historical process.

However, the use of the level of development of productive forces as a criterion for the periodization of primitive history met with theoretical difficulties. So, even the creators of Mesoamerican civilizations did not know the production use of metals, while the ancient Germans or some tribes Tropical Africa, who were at the stage of decomposition of the tribal system, mastered the smelting of iron. It was necessary to take into account the level of not so much absolute as relative productive forces, which would ultimately lead to the rejection of the monistic principle of periodization of primitive history. This prompted a rethinking of the criterion itself, and in the 1950s attention was drawn to the fact that the only correct criterion for the periodization of primitive history can only be the one on which the formational division of the entire historical process is based: differences in the mode of production and, in particular, in forms industrial relations(A. I. Pershits). At the same time, an attempt was made to trace the development of forms of primitive ownership of the means of production, which led to the separation, in addition to the stage of the primitive human herd, of the stages of the primitive tribal community and the primitive neighbor community. In the further development of the general periodization of primitive history, two trends emerged. Soviet scientists (Iu. I. Semenov, N. A. Butinov, and others) sought to take into account the development of the entire system or individual aspects of production relations; scientists of the GDR (I. Zelnov and others) sought to take into account the development of the entire system of production. However, no one was able to consistently maintain the accepted principle, and the proposed schemes remained vulnerable to criticism.

Only in the mid-1970s did an in-depth study of the primitive economy make it possible to identify important differences in distribution and property relations at the main stages of development of the primitive community (Yu. I. Semenov). In the early primitive community, which led an appropriating economy and received mainly only a life-supporting product, egalitarian distribution and common property dominated; each member of the community was entitled to a share of the product produced, regardless of whether he participated in its production. In the late primitive community, which moved to a productive or highly specialized appropriating economy and received a relatively regular surplus product, along with an egalitarian distribution, labor distribution developed, in which part of the product was placed at the disposal of individual members of the community, along with the common property, personal property developed. Theoretical analysis also made it possible to define the form that preceded the primitive community as the ancestral community, and the form that replaced the primitive community as the primitive neighboring, or proto-peasant, community. So far, only the distribution of food products has been studied - not the only and, perhaps, not the main category of primitive property - but what has already been done has shown the effectiveness of the production criterion of the general periodization of primitive history and the legitimacy of identifying the main stages of this history with the main types of development of the primitive community . This typological series: ancestral community (primitive human herd), early primitive and late primitive (early tribal and late tribal), proto-peasant (primitive neighbor) communities - and corresponds to the main stages of primitive history. However, the taxonomy, and hence the number of stages, remain controversial. There are four of them, if we consider the two averages as of the same order with the first and the last, and such a classification allows us to take into account more fully the important boundary separating the eras of the appropriating and producing economy. There are three of them, if we consider the two middle ones as sub-stages of one stage of the primitive, or tribal, community, and such a classification well reflects the fact that the socio-economic consequences of the transition from the appropriating to the producing economy did not affect immediately, and at first, late tribal communities differed little from early tribal ones. .

An even more controversial problem of periodization of primitive history remains the relationship between primitive history and the history of the primitive communal formation. While most Soviet scientists equate these concepts, some approach the issue differently. There is an opinion that the era of the ancestral community, or the primitive human herd, when, along with the social, the biological development of man himself continued, should be considered as a special stage in the history of mankind, preceding the stage of a fully formed, “ready”, according to F. Engels, society. Thus, the era of the fore-community is taken out of the framework of socio-economic formations in general and the primitive communal formation in particular (V. P. Yakimov, Yu. I. Semenov). The sociobiological specificity of this epoch and its enormous time span make such a formulation of the question theoretically legitimate, but still hardly correct. Firstly, the fore-community was, although emerging, but already human society, and not a subhuman community, and therefore its history cannot be separated from the history of the primitive communal socio-economic formation. Secondly, having adopted this point of view, we must
would be to admit that the primitive communal formation, unlike all others, began directly from the stage of its heyday, and this is difficult to substantiate theoretically.

There is also an opinion that the era of the primitive neighboring, or proto-peasant, community should be considered not as the final stage of the primitive communal formation, but as a special non-formational transitional period that connects it with the first class formation, but does not belong to any of them (S. P. Tolstov , A. I. Neusykhin, Yu. I. Semenov). This point of view is also hardly justified. The entire course of the historical process shows that the elements of a new socio-economic formation are born in the collapse of the previous one, and not in special non-formational periods. The exception is the transition period from capitalism to communism, when the purposeful activity of the state of the dictatorship of the proletariat is necessary to transform an antagonistic class society into its opposite. But the era of the transformation of primitive society into a class society could not be such an exception, if only because this transformation could not be the result of the purposeful activity of the state, which itself arose with the split of society into classes. Therefore, it is more correct to consider that the transformation of primitive society into a class society took place within the framework of not an extra-formational, but such a transitional period in which independent stages the history of the primitive communal and the formation that replaced it. On the final stage primitive history, in the era of the primitive neighboring (proto-peasant) community, there is a process of formation of private property, classes and the state. On the initial stage class history, in the era of early class societies, the state that has already emerged becomes a powerful factor in eradicating the remnants of the primitive communal system and strengthening the new mode of production. Thus, the final stage of primitive history, although it is only a segment of the transitional period, coincides with the final stage of the history of the primitive communal formation.

For a long time, Western science was dominated by a nihilistic attitude to the theoretical understanding of primitiveness and, as a result of this, a denial of the very possibility of constructing its general periodization. Now the leading scientists of the West, especially the United States, who have experienced direct or indirect influence Marxism, they themselves are trying to create such a periodization. The most common distinction is between egalitarian, ranked and stratified (M. X. Fried and others) or egalitarian and stratified (or hierarchical) (R. M. Adams, E. R. Service and others) societies. Egalitarian societies are characterized by an appropriating economy and distribution only horizontally (that is, between people of the same social status); ranked, stratified and hierarchical - by a productive economy and distribution both horizontally and vertically (that is, between people of unequal social status). Those who distinguish between ranked and stratified societies believe that in the first there is only social, and in the second - also property inequality. An attractive feature of these schemes is the desire to take into account the peculiarities of the development of the primitive economy, but the narrowness of their theoretical (including economic) base and the underestimation of the difference between social and class stratification make them insufficiently convincing.

Of the special periodizations of primitive history, the most important is the archaeological one, based on differences in the material and technique of making tools: this is the division of the history of mankind into three centuries - stone, bronze and iron. Stone is divided into
the Old Stone Age, or Paleolithic, and the New Stone Age, or Neolithic. Between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic, a transitional era is distinguished - the Mesolithic. The Paleolithic is divided into early (lower, ancient) Paleolithic (approximately 1.5 - 1 million years ago) and late (upper) Paleolithic (40-12 thousand years ago). Sometimes the Middle Paleolithic (100-40 thousand years ago) is distinguished in a special period. The Mesolithic dates back to approximately 12-6 millennium BC. e. The uneven development of culture in different territories, which emerged in the Late Paleolithic, intensified even more in the Neolithic. Different tribes experienced the Neolithic at different times. Most of Neolithic monuments of Europe and Asia dates back to 8-5 millennia BC. e. The end of the Neolithic era, when the first copper tools appeared, is called the Eneolithic (the term “Chalcolithic” was previously used, now abandoned). Approximate chronological framework Bronze Age - the end of the 3rd - the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. the Iron Age arrived. Schemes of internal periodization of the New Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages vary greatly in relation to different continents and regions, as well as among different researchers.

Although archaeological periodization is entirely based on technological criteria and does not give an idea of the development of production as a whole, its creation was a major scientific achievement, as K. Marx directly pointed out. It made it possible to judge the development of tools of labor, and thus, to a certain extent, the evolution of social relations. It is also very important that it opened wide possibilities for the absolute and relative chronology of archaeological periods. For absolute dating, various methods of natural sciences are used: isotopic potassium-argon and radiocarbon (according to the decay time of radioactive elements), geochronological (according to the thickness of the annual layers of tape clays), dendrochronological (according to the thickness of annual tree rings), etc. Together, they now allow , though with greater or lesser tolerances, to date approximately half of the entire primitive history. Relative dating is achieved by comparing the cultural layers themselves, or archaeological types, or by comparing them with changes in the natural environment: geological steps, paleontological (paleozoological and paleobotanical) epochs, etc.

Of particular importance is the synchronization of archaeological epochs with the geological periods of the Earth's history. The time of human existence approximately corresponds to the Quaternary period. It is divided into two epochs: 1) pre-glacial and glacial, called the Pleistocene, and 2) post-glacial, or Holocene. During the Pleistocene, significant areas of Northern Europe, Asia and North America were periodically subjected to glaciation. Usually there are four advances and retreats of the glacier and, accordingly, four glacial and three interglacial epochs. To designate the eras of the advance of the glacier on Europe, the terms are used: gunz, mindel, riss, wurm (after the name of four alpine rivers, where the alternation of interglacial and glacial deposits was well traced). The first two glaciations belong to the Lower Pleistocene, the penultimate interglacial and glaciation to the Middle Pleistocene, and the last interglacial and glaciation to the Upper Pleistocene. In the archaeological periodization, the Pleistocene corresponds to the Paleolithic epochs and to a large part, and perhaps completely, to the Mesolithic. The Neolithic dates back to the post-glacial epoch - the Holocene.

At the same time, archaeological periodization has the disadvantage that it is not universal. Initially, with the development of archaeological work outside of Europe, it became clear that it was impossible to link
stages and phases identified on different continents and territories, i.e., regional periodizations. Then it touched on larger epochs and even centuries: it was found that, due to differences in the natural environment, societies of the same type in terms of development level may or may not use iron, bronze, and in some cases even stone. Archaeological periodization lost general acceptance. Some Western archaeologists began to combine in their schemes of periodization the phases of the geological development of the Earth and the economic evolution of mankind in various ways. Other archaeologists, and above all Soviet archaeologists, are critical and even humorous of such eclectic combinations and continue to improve archaeological schemes, but for the most part limit them to certain regional boundaries. In general, archaeological periodization has turned from a global into a set of regional ones, but it still retains considerable importance.

Anthropological periodization based on the criteria of human physical evolution is even more special: the identification of the epochs of the existence of the most ancient, ancient and fossil modern man, i.e. archanthrope, paleoanthrope and Homo sapiens. The systematization of the human family (hominids) and their subfamily of humans (hominins), their genera and species, as well as their names by different researchers is not uniform. Particularly controversial is the definition of the periodization place of the so-called homo habilis (“handy man”), in which some researchers see a person, while the majority see it as a pre-human. This is serious reasons, and further we will see which ones.

A specific, as it were, implicit aspect of the periodization of primitive history is its division, widespread in the West, into prehistory, studied mainly archaeologically, and proto-, para-, or ethnohistory, studied both archaeologically and with the help of written sources that arose in the neighborhood of primitive class societies. The rational grain of this division becomes noticeable only if one approaches it not from a formal source study, but from a content-historical point of view. In primitive history, societies can be distinguished that existed on Earth even before the emergence of the first civilizations, and societies that developed on the periphery of these and subsequent civilizations. They belong to the same formation, since the criterion for distinguishing a formation is the mode of production, and not the era of its existence. But they are not identical in terms of the degree of independence of their development: as a rule, the former developed more independently than the latter. Therefore, they can be distinguished as apopolite societies (APO) and synpolyte societies (SPO).

Taking into account the most important of the existing differences in views in the history of primitive society, the following main epochs can be identified, compared with the traditional links of archaeological and anthropological periodization, and approximately dated (see Table on p. 10).

The era of the fore-community, or the primitive human herd, opens with the appearance of goal-setting instrumental activity and, consequently, the emergence of the most ancient people - archanthropes, who form the first, as yet weakly soldered, production teams.

The main content of the era is the overcoming in the process of labor activity of the remains of the animal state inherited from the herd of apes and prehumans, the strengthening of social ties, and at the same time the completion of the biological development of man himself. The lower boundary of the era of the fore-community remains controversial due to discrepancies in isometric dating, the upper one - because of differences in views on the social organization of time

Middle Paleolithic and Paleoanthropes. Twenty years ago, the vast majority of Soviet scientists considered this time as the time of the primitive human herd, but new finds have shown that even then a shift in the technique of stone processing began, artificial collective dwellings appeared and clear evidence of concern for members of the team, i.e. all those phenomena that were previously associated only with the onset of the Upper Paleolithic and the tribal system. All this makes it legitimate to conclude that the upper boundary of the epoch of the great community should be lowered into the Middle Paleolithic and the time of the Paleoanthropes. Legitimate, but not obligatory: the physical appearance of paleoanthropes continued to change, therefore, biological development has not yet been removed by social development. The question is therefore still open.

The era of the primitive, or tribal, community opens with the emergence of the first lasting forms of social organization - the clan and the tribal community. It was at this time that the main feature of the formation received its highest expression - consistent collectivism in production and consumption, common property and egalitarian distribution. These features are especially pronounced at the stage of the early primitive, or early tribal, community and are preserved, although they no longer dominate completely, after the transition from the appropriating to the producing economy and the transformation of the community into a late primitive, or late tribal community.

The era of the primitive neighboring (proto-peasant) community in many, although not all, societies opens with the appearance of metal replacing stone and everywhere - the progressive development of all branches of economic activity, the growth of excess product, the spread of predatory wars due to accumulated wealth. The egalitarian distribution is mainly replaced by labor distribution, the common property of the community begins to be replaced by the isolated property of individual households, tribal ties are gradually broken and give way to neighbors. Early forms of exploitation appear and, in accordance with this, the emergence of private property, a surplus product, classes and the state begin to take shape. The lower boundary of the era of the primitive neighborhood community in the most advanced societies falls on the time of the late Neolithic, in the less advanced - on the time of the metals. The upper limit - the emergence of class societies and a peasant neighboring community - was crossed by advanced societies about 5 thousand years ago. years ago, lagging behind in its development - it has not been crossed even now.

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Periodization of history

Chronology of the history of primitive society.

Chronology and periodization in the study of history

Periodization of primitive history

Chronology and periodization

Historiography of the history of primitive society.

Chronology of the history of primitive society.

Periodization of the history of primitive society.

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