UNDERSTANDING

CULTURE, SOCIETY
AND POLITICS

HUMAN BIOCULTURAL AND

SOCIAL EVOLUTION
 OBJECTIVES:

Identify Trace Explore

• Identify the forms of • Trace the biological • Explore the

tangible and and cultural evolution significance
intangible heritage of early human to of human material
modern humans remains as pieces of
artifactual evidence
interpreting, social,
political and
economic processes
 ACTIVITY
Direction: Guess the scrambled word by basing on the given clues.

SCRAMBLED WORD CLUES ANSWER

LGEUAGAN Set of spoken symbols and combining them in

meaningful ways.

ELBIXEFL Willing to change or try different things.

TIONARUTENCUL Individual learns the traditional content of a

culture.

TEGINRATED Having different parts working together as a

unit.

DAPEVITA Having capacity for a tendency toward

adaptation.
 CULTURAL HERITAGE

v is the legacy of physical artifacts

and intangible attributes of a group
or society that are inherited from
the past generation, maintained in
the present and bestowed for the
benefit of future generations.
 TWO TYPES OF HERITAGE
q Physical artifacts or Tangible Heritage or Material Culture includes the material
objects such as artifacts, buildings, landscapes, tools, furniture, bridges, and any
physical substance used by includes people, which are worthy of preservation for
the future.
q Intangible Cultural Heritage(ICH) is promoted by UNESCO as a counterpart to the
World Heritage.
Non-material or Intangible
*It consists of abstractions that includes knowledge, beliefs, values, rules for
behavior, traditional skills and technologies, religious ceremonies, performing arts
and storytelling.
 DESCRIPTIONS OF
INTANGIBLE CULTURAL
HERITAGE:
1.It can be traditional,
contemporary, and living at the
same time.
*Intangible cultural heritage
represents not only the traditions
from the past but also
contemporary rural and urban
practices in which diverse cultural
groups continue to take part.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 2. IT IS INCLUSIVE.

*People may share expressions of intangible cultural

heritage that are similar to those practiced by others.
*Whether they are from the neighboring village, from a
city on the opposite side of the world, or have been
adapted by peoples who have migrated and settled in a
different region, they are all intangible cultural heritage.
*These forms have been passed from one generation to
another, have evolved in response to their environments
and they contribute in giving a sense of identity and
continuity, providing a link from mankind’s past, through
the present and into the future.
 3. IT IS REPRESENTATIVE.

*It is not merely valued as a cultural

good.
*It thrives on its basis in communities
and depends on those whose knowledge
of traditions, skills and customs are
passed on to the rest of the community,
from generation to generation, or to
other communities.
 4. IT IS COMMUNITY-BASED.

*Intangible forms of culture become

heritage only when it is recognized as
such by the communities, groups or
individuals that create, maintain and
transmit it.
CULTURAL BEGINNINGS

Culture is defined as ‘’that complex whole which

encompasses beliefs, practices, values, attitudes,
law, norms, artifacts, symbols, knowledge and
everything that a persons learns and shares as a
member of society. It is a by-product of the attempt
of humans to survive their environment and to
compensate for their biological characteristics and
limitations.
BIOLOGICAL CAPACITY FOR CULTURE
Ø THINKING CAPACITY – the
primary component of humans
that allowed for culture is the
developed brain. It has the
necessary parts for facilitating
pertinent skills such as
speaking, touching, feeling,
seeing and smelling.
Ø SPEAKING CAPACITY – As the
brain is the primary source of
humans capacity to comprehend
sound and provides meaning to
it, the vocal tract acts as the
mechanism by which sounds are
produced and reproduced to
transmit ideas and values.
BIOLOGICAL CAPACITY FOR CULTURE

Ø GRIPPING CAPACITY – Notice how your thumb relates with your fingers. This
capacity to directly oppose your thumb with your other fingers is an exclusive trait
of humans. It allowed us to have a finer grip. Types of Power Grip enabled humans
to wrap the thumb and fingers on an object. Precision Grip enabled humans to hold
and pick objects steadily using their fingers

Ø WALKING CAPACITY/STANDING CAPACITY – primates have two forms of

locomotion. Bipedalism the capacity to walk and stand on two feet.
Quadropedalism uses all four limbs. Apes are semi bipedal; Humans are the only
fully bipedal primates.
EVOLUTION OF SOCIETY
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY
 PALEOLITHIC AGE

This is also called the Old Stone Age

because men used unpolished and crude
stones as their tool implements.
v The Term Paleolithic came from two
Greek word “ Palacious” which means
Old and “lithos” means stone.
The men living in this period are the Java
men, Neanderthal men and Cro-Magnon
men.
This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA
 CHARACTERISTICS OF PALEOLITHIC AGE:

a. They made and used tools, especially crude stones.

b. They gathered and collected food through hunting and fishing.
c. The food that they usually eat are wild fruits, nuts and berries.
d. The Paleolithic men hunted, fished and protected their families
and tribe while the early Paleolithic women gathered wild plants,
fruits, nuts and prepared food for eating as well as took care of
their children.
e. Both men and women constructed their dwelling, made
ornaments and tools and trained their children for adult social and
political life.
f. The late Paleolithic people were lovers of art and paintings, and
their paintings of reindeers and horses are found in caves in
France and Spain which date back from 28 000 to 10,000 BC.
 MESOLITHIC AGE

This is known as the Period of

Transitional Culture. Because of the
glaciers that occurred, some of the
animals became extinct and they
adjusted to the new environment.
People live along the coast fishing and
gathering shellfish white others. Live in
Land where they made bow and arrow
for hunting, devise skis and sled and
domesticated dogs
 NEOLITHIC AGE
This is called the Polished
Stone Age.

The word Neolithic is

derived from two Greek
words namely “neos” which
means “new” and “lithos” or
stone.
 a. Instead of food gathering, such as hunting
and fishing. They also produced their own food.

b. The people also engaged in herding, pottery

and weaving
CHARACTERISTICS
OF THE c. The people polished their own tools and
weapons.
NEOLITHIC AGE
d. The people domesticated animals.

e. The people learned to built dug-outs- the

world’s first boat.
 METALLIC AGE

This stage is characterized

by the presence of metals;
the copper used as tool
implement, Bronze was
used for people’s tools and
weapons.
TYPES OF SOCIETY
HUNTING AND GATHERING SOCIET Y

This is the earliest form of

socio- cultural society. The
people subsisted from day to
day through hunting larger
animals, collecting shellfish
and vegetable gathering.
Their tools were made of
stones, woods, and bones.
 HORTICULTURAL AND PASTORAL SOCIETY

As means of production, the

people planted seeds for
subsistence
PASTORAL SOCIETY

Most of the people were nomadic who follow

their herds in quest of animals for food and
clothing to satisfy their needs. They raised
animals to provide milk, furs and blood for
protein. These societies typically are relatively
small, wandering communities organized
along male- centered kinship groups.
 AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY

In the early agricultural

societies, people used plow
in food production.
 INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY

This society began in the 18th

century during the Industrial
Revolution and gain momentum by
the turn of the 19th century. This
period is characterized by the use of
machines as means of food
production.
 POST- INDUSTRIAL SOCIETIES

Information and communication technology

is the hallmark of these modern societies.
Post Industrial society is characterized by
the spread of computer technology.
Advances in this technology are made of
highly-trained computer specialists who work
to increase the capabilities of computers and
internet.
The use of modern technology gave rise to
several technological problems such as
pollution, lung-illness, asthma, skin
problems and others.