Culture of primitive society - its features

The culture of primitive society, which originated with a reasonable person, is considered one of the most ancient periods of history. All peoples of our planet have passed this stage of historical development, forming the sources of the subsequent achievements of mankind (both spiritual and material). It was at this time that the first individuals and first states appeared, but it should be noted that the life of primitive people did not become a fully studied fact.

The study of primitive culture was complicated by an insufficient base of archaeological data and the absence of written sources. Given this fact, various sciences were forced to resort to the reconstruction of certain episodes of the history of this period. Most often attention was focused on the tribes of Australia, Oceania, Africa, because they were considered "stuck" at the initial stages of human development.

The first stone tools, found by archaeologists, were made more than two million years ago. Note that our era from the Nativity of Christ lasts a little more than 2 thousand years, and this fact gives the right to assert that almost 99% of its history humanity lived in a primitive society.

The culture of primitive society has its own specifics, which is determined by several proven facts. First, it is inherent primitiveness of management and the simplest tools. Secondly, this period is characterized by a total lack of the most elementary scientific knowledge, but the knowledge of natural phenomena was excellent, although they were comprehended only on an intuitive level. Thirdly, the culture of primitive society is unique in that the intellect of people who lived during this period was not inferior to ours. Thanks to this, they own the most important inventions, without which many scientists no longer represent the further development of culture (it concerns the construction of housing, the art of mastering fire, taming animals).

Special attention should be paid to the syncretism of primitive culture, which is the most important feature of the period under consideration. This means that in the oldest culture there were no specialists, since there was no specialization coming from the society. Every representative of the primitive race must have a basic knowledge that would enable them to carry out all the necessary activities. World perception and human consciousness were undifferentiated. Every primitive individual considered himself a part of nature (at that time no one even thought about taking himself to a separate class). It should also be noted that syncretism is the basis for the first attempts to explain the world. At the heart of such theories are analogies and thinking by analogy.

The culture of primitive society had one more feature: at that time people (all without exception) believed that many trees, rivers, mountains and stones were animated, so they could influence various events in the world. Soon the combination of magic and primitive syncretism leads to the emergence of visual activity, which gives rise to a whole art.

The system of classification of primitive culture deserves attention. Unfortunately, to date there is no single division scheme, but the most developed and popular is the archaeological periodization. It is based on man-made tools, as well as all materials used. Guided by this principle of division, the primitive communal system is divided into three centuries: stone, bronze and iron. The longest period of human history is the Stone Age, which, in turn, is divided into three epochs: Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic.