MODULE 2:

HUMAN
EVOLUTION
AND CULTURE
Culture Beginnings
 CULTURE is defined as “that
complex whole which
encompasses beliefs, practices,
values, attitudes, laws, norms,
artifacts, symbols, knowledge
and everything that a person
learns and shares as a member
of a society” (Tylor, 2010)
Culture Beginnings
 CULTURE is a by-product of
the attempt of humans to
survive their environment and
to compensate for their
biological characteristics and
limitations.
Culture Beginnings
To understand culture, you need to
know 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
 Our thinking capacity
Touch and
taste
abilities
Cognition
and Motor
activities Visual
skills

Hearing
skills
Biological Capacity for Culture
 Our thinking capacity

1.4 kg

420 g.

500 g.
Biological Capacity for Culture
 Our speaking capacity
Biological Capacity for Culture
 Our gripping capacity

CHIMPANZEE HUMAN
Biological Capacity for Culture
 Our gripping capacity
Two types of Grip:

o Power Grip – enabled humans to

wrap the thumb and fingers on an
object; it became the cornerstone
of our capacity to hold tools firmly
for hunting and other activities.
Biological Capacity for Culture
 Our gripping capacity
Two types of Grip:

o Precision Grip – enabled humans to

hold and pick objects steadily
using their fingers. This capacity
was crucial for tool-making
activities.
Biological Capacity for Culture
 Our walking/standing capacity
Primates have two forms of
locomotion:

 Bipedalism – the capacity to walk

and stand on two feet.
 Quadropedalism – uses all four
limbs.
Human Origins and the Capacity for
Culture
The Oldowan Industry
• a stone tool
industry
• “hard water-worn
creek cobbles
made out of
volcanic rock.
 The Oldowan Industry
• Percussion flaking – a process
involving the systematic collision
of a hammer stone with a core
stone.
• this industry is known to have
been used by Homo Habilis.
 The Acheulian Industry
• Using the same
process of
percussion flaking,
Homo erectus
created hand axes
that were bifacial,
shaped in both
sides, and with
straighter and Bifacial stone tool from
sharper edges.
the Acheulian industry
 The Acheulian Industry
• These stone were
used in multiple
activities such as
light chopping of
wood, digging up
roots and bulbs,
butchering
animals, and
cracking nuts and Bifacial stone tool from
small bones.
the Acheulian industry
The Mousterian Industry
The Mousterian Industry

A Mousterian
tool
 The Mousterian Industry

Stone tool development

These differences are primarily due to the shifting

needs of the users who were adapting to their
environment as they addressed their need for food
and security.
 By the end of the Paleolithic
period, early humans have been
engaged in proto-culture type of
industries.

Proto-culture industry – early

humans did not just create tools but
also started creating art and other
symbolic materials.
The Aurignacian Industry
The Aurignacian Industry

Flint Animal
bones
 The Aurignacian Industry

The cave paintings found in the El Castillo

Cave in Cantabaria, Spain provide us with a
glimpse of the environment that the early
humans live in.
The Magdalenian Industry
The Magdalenian Industry
The creation of
specialized
weapons such as
barbed harpoons
is evidence of the
growing
sophistication of
the hunting skills
and technology of
the early humans.
Processes of Cultural and
Sociopolitical Evolution
 The Paleolithic stage has
provided the bases for the
development of complex human
groups through the
establishment of culture.
 by the end of Paleolithic period,
Earth was getting warmer as the
ice age was already at its last
stages.
 The early humans have always
been dependent on their
environment, which made foraging
the primary mode of subsistence.
The Neolithic Revolution
This period is characterized by a major
shift in economic subsistence of the
early humans from foraging to
agriculture.
Early Civilization and the Rise of the State

• Early Civilization were

characterized by the presence of
city-states, a system of writing,
and a ceremonial center where
public debates and decisions were
made.
• State is a political entity that has
four requisite elements: territory,
sovereignty, people, and government
Primary Theories

• Divine right theory – rulers

ascended to power convinced that
their right to rule is based on
their filial relationship with
supernatural forces and entities.
• Force theory – a group forces
members of another group to
subject themselves to their rules.
Primary Theories
• Paternalistic theory – the father
essentially is the leader of the
first political unit, which grew as
the number of the members of his
family grew.
• Social contract – the creation of a
state was a mutual agreement
between the ruler and the ruled to
ensure order and security from
outside threats.
Primary Theories
• Natural theory – Humans have an
innate need to be part of a
community.
Essay: Answer only
• What factors drove the shifts in
tradition and industries of early
humans?
• How different was the lifestyle of
the Paleolithic society from the
Neolithic society?
• Why is the Neolithic period
considered as a revolution?