MODULE 2: Human evolution and culture

Cultural beginnings
- Comes from the Latin word “Cultus” which means care – a care
and attention provided to a human person as he grows into a
mature person.
- A powerful force that affects the lives of the members of a society.
- It shapes and guide people’s perception of reality, determines the
food they eat, clothing they wear or such.
- Encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitude, laws, norms,
symbols, knowledge and everything that a person shares as a
member of a society. (Tylor, 2010)
- Culture is a by-product of the attempt of humans to survive their
environment to compensate for their biological characteristics and
limitations.
o To understand culture, learn the ff:
 Biological capacity of humans for culture
 Place of humans in the animal kingdom
 How humans came to develop early forms of culture
Biological capacity for culture
1. Our thinking capacity – humans have a larger brain that able them
to create survival skills that helped them adapt to their environment
and outlived their less adaptive biological relatives.
a. Brain – the primary biological component of humans that
allowed culture.
b. Human Brain
i. Frontal lobe – cognition and motor abilities
ii. Parietal lobe – taste and touch abilities.
iii. Temporal lobe – hearing skills
 iv. Occipital lobe – visual skills.
2. Our speaking capacity – the tongue of humans is more flexible
allowing for more control in making sounds.
a. Hyoid Bone – crucial for speaking as a support for the root of
the tongue.
3. 3. Our gripping capacity – finer grip and the capability to craft
materials with precision.
a. Power grip – enabled humans to wrap the thumb and fingers
on an object.
b. Precision grip – enabled humans to hold and pick objects
steadily using fingers.
4. Our walking/standing capacity – humans gained more capacity to
move while carrying objects with their free hands.
a. 2 forms of locomotions:
 Bipedalism– humans gained more capacity to move
while carrying objects with their free hands.
 Quadropedalism– uses all four limbs.
Human origins and the capacity for culture
= Archeologist refer to these early traditions as stone tool industries
instead of culture.
 Stone Tool Industry
o Any of several assemblages of artifacts displaying
humanity’s earliest technology.
- The OLDOWAN Industry
 2.6 m yrs ago
 Characterized by the use “hard water-work creek cobbles made
out of Volcanic rock” (O’Neil, 2012)
 found by Mary and Louis Leakey at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania
 This industry have been used by Homo Habilis
  usage: butcher large animals
o Percussion Flaking – a process involving the systematic
collision of a hammer stone with a core stone. The impact
of the collision produces a core tool and a flake tool.
- The ANCHEULIAN industry
 1.5 m yrs ago
 characterized as "hand axes" that are bifacial
 was named after a patron Saint Acheul
 discovered in Southwest African
 This industry have been used by Homo erectus
 Homo erectus - invented this industry using same process of
percussion flaking (hand axes that were bifacial, shaped in both
sides and with straighter and sharper edges).

 Usage: light chopping of wood, digging up roots

and bulbs, butchering animals, cracking nuts and small bones
- The MOUSTERIAN industry
 300,000-30,000 yrs ago
 This industry have been developed by Homo neodertholensis
o Homo Neanderthals - evidence of tradition, as one
efficient trait is borrowed or passed on to the next
generation.
 was name after Le Moustier (site in france)
 also found in Northen African and West asia
  This industry could be an evidence of acculturation of modern
human.

 This industry is a
combination of Acheulian industry techniques with Levalloisian
Technique.
- The AURIGNACIAN industry
 45,000-35,000 yrs ago
 Used raw materials such as flint, animal bones and antlers.
 Present in Europe and Southwest Asia
 Aurignacian was derived from Aurignac (France)
 What made this industry a cultural milestone for the modern
humans in Europe is their development of self-awareness.


- The MAGDALENIAN industry
 18,000-12,000 yrs ago
 End of Paleolithic period, start of Neolithic period.
 Was named after the La Madeleine in Dordogne, France.
  Proto Culture - revolutionary advancements in technology,
functional tools, man-made shelters and creation of specialized
weapons. (Paleolithic and Neolithic)


Process of Cultural and Sociopolitical Evolution
Paleolithic Stage
- Provided: bases for the development of complex human groups –
establishment of culture
- Situate early humans by their physical environment – we
understand the adaptations done which revolutionized the entire
way that the human species have existed.
o End of Paleolithic period: Earth=warmer – Ice Age: Last
stage
o Earth’s Surface: Changing
o Sea Level: Rising
o Polar Caps: Melting
o Land Surface: Decreased
o Warm Climate=new plants/animals and extinction of others
- Early humans – dependent on their environment
o Foraging as subsistence (primary mode)
- Foraging (hunting and gathering)
- Drastic changes in geography and food sources=the need to adapt
new strategies to survive.
It was in this setting that the “Neolithic Revolution” (Childe, 1936) spread throughout the planet.

Neolithic Revolution
- Major shift in economic subsistence
- Foraging to agriculture
- Dramatic shift affected: lifestyle
o Foraging – nomads;
o Agriculture – permanent settlement
- This shift changed: array of behavior, attitudes, beliefs, and
corresponding material inventions
CHARACTERISTICS OF PALEOLITHIC AND NEOLITHIC
SOCIETIES
Characteristic Paleolithic Neolithic
Tools Small and handy for Included a wider array
mobile lifestyle of small and bigger
tools due to sedentary
lifestyle
Personal Properties Limited to personal Included structures
accessories and small (e.g, houses),
tools that could easily decorative ornaments,
be carried around large containers
Art Small and limited to Included the creation
personal ornaments, of artworks that
bigger artworks were required a longer
done but not within a length of time and a
long time frame. greater number of
people.
SUBSISTENCE FORAGING AGRICULTURE
LEADERSHIP Not rigid; age and Semi rigid; legitimacy
knowledge
SOCIAL DIVISION None; communal Elite vs. working class
lifestyle
POPULATION Small (30-50 people) Large (in thousands)
Neolithic Revolution
- Two perspectives in its impact
o Traditionally: Development of agriculture and technology;
develop socio-politically; systematic food production – food
surplus; indulge in self-actualizing activities: arts and
politics.
- Progressive scholars: surplus production – negative impact: social
divisions, high population density, and gender inequality.
Early Civilization and the Rise of the State
- Rose by the end of the Neolithic Period - complexities; shift in
food production = more rigid social structure.
- Conflicts between groups developed and intensified, the need to
create a more cohesive society became definite.
- Characterized: presence of city-states, a system of writing, and a
ceremonial center
- Public debates and decisions were made.
- It must be noted that not all societies during this period could be
considered as civilizations; not all possessed a political system that
could be equated to a state.
- A state is a political entity that has four (4) requisite elements:
territory, sovereignty, people and government.
5 Primary Theories as to How States Rose:
1. Divine right theory – rulers ascended to power that their right to
rule is based on their filial relationship with supernatural forces
and entities (god-king).
 2. Force theory – a group of people forces members of another group
to subject themselves to their rules.
3. Paternalistic theory – the father essentially is the leader of the first
political unit.
4. Social contract – mutual agreement between the ruler and the ruled
to ensure order and security from outside threats.
5. Natural theory – humans innate to be part of community (political
animals).
Democratization of Early Civilization
- Demokratia – Athenian statesman Cleisthenes proposed this
political ideology. Closing social gaps between social groups.
o Political ideology; dispersing power from the monopoly of
the elites to the masses.
- The early states were governed by a limited few who ascended to
power through wealth, birth right, or religious dogma.
- Alienated the masses from the daily administration of rules and
regulations.
- Result = widening of social cleavage = social clashes.
- The traditional view on the history of democracy highlights its
development among the city – states of ancient Greece, around 507
BCE.
- Allowed: closing in social gaps between diverging social groups.
- Democracy in Greece was primarily about the inclusion of
marginalized sectors of the society in the day-to-day operations of
the government.
- Deciding on laws and implementing rules, deciding on court cases
– masses: direct access to decision-making activities in the state.
- Narrowed the social gap between the rich and poor yet it did not
address other issues: gender inequality and racism.
The Legacy of Early Humans to Contemporary Population
- The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO) – transnational entity that manages and
negotiates matters relating to human heritage.
- Cultural Heritage
o Tangible in form – structures, monuments, historical sites
and artifacts
o Intangible in form – literature, oral traditions, concepts and
values.
The Role of Museum in Preserving Human Heritage
1. Fostering community solidarity through shared history
2. Regeneration and development of the local economy
10 Most Famous Museum

 Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, USA

 Le Louvre, Paris, France
 The Acropolis Museum, Athens, Greece
 State Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia
 The British Museum, London, UKA
 The Prado, Madrid, Spain
 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NY, USA
 The Vatican Museums, Vatican City
 The Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy
 Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands