The Four Major Approaches Of Sociocultural Evolution

Human societies have also evolved from simple structures of early hunting-and-gathering communities to the more complex cosmopolitan cities of today. The hunting-and-gathering communities were fairly simple societies demanding the minimum of resources. Complexity grew with farming communities and more energy was necessary to sustain the larger populations and the demands of a stable, non-nomadic life. Early civilizations saw an increase in complexity with the introduction of specialization and trade. Which, again, required more energy to sustain even larger communities. Cultural evolution has evolved so much that cities today are only possible because of humans’ ability to control energy by the movement of food across large distances to easily accessible locations (McNeill 2003, 320-321).

First, looking at the type of society we live in it is considered a information society. Unlike agricultural, which was based off of growing crops and creating a food surplus, we create and store information. We divide our labor like the ag. society but it is highly specialized work. People in an information society also have a permanent settlement, instead of living in a village we live in suburban residences outside of large cities. Included in this is commuting for work which means people now have to travel farther distances to work. The main social focus is based off of consumption not production like agricultural. Finally, children are seen more as expensive not a helping hand or insurance when you get older like the premodern societies.

The societies of Paleolithic man were far different then that of the Neolithic man. The Old Stone Age societies had no time for other actives then what was necessary to survive. They did not invent many new things, and were constantly moving and changing their environment. Societies in he New Stone Age were a settled people, who constantly improved their lifestyle's to make it easier to live by. Job's of the women no longer consisted of gathering, it consisted of growing the crops, since agriculture was a new provider of food.

The Neolithic Revolution was the major change in human life caused by the beginnings of farming. This revolution changed people’s lives in several ways. It changed the way people lived because before the Neolithic Revolution they relied on hunting and gathering food. It also changed the way they settled, because of this revolution they were able to live in villages for a long time, unlike before; they had to relocate often because their food source would become scarce.  The way civilizations lived changed because of the Neolithic Revolution. A civilization is a form of culture that consists of cities, advanced technology, specialized workers, complex institutions, and record keeping. The early river valley civilizations; which developed in Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus, and China, had more similarities than differences. The river valley civilizations were similar when it came to their writing systems, inventions, and geography. However, they were also different when it came to writing systems and inventions.

Prior to living in homes build to with stand the test of time, growing food their food source, and raising animals, humans were nomads who followed their food source around and were hunters and gathers. Although it took many years, from 8000B.C. to 3000B.C. for humans to go from hunters and gathers to a more common day life as we now know it, the result is referred to as the Neolithic Revolution the begins of human civilization. As the people of this time began to settle down and they began to both farm the land and domesticate animals for the better of the community. Along with the development of these communities as for the first time began to create social class among the many different roles they played in their community. Because

Agricultural societies allow for a greater population density, than hunter-gatherer societies. With a greater population of people, not everyone has to farm; therefore people can ‘specialize’ in other areas such as political organization. Also, people can focus on gun, steels, and ships other than just

Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond is an outstanding book about how different societies changed developmentally through time. Diamond tells readers about how many societies developed faster than others and how wealth and power spread throughout different regions of the continents. Wealth was spread unevenly because many societies had less technological advances or developed after another society. Diamond uses a question and answer approach to answers questions about society and the changes many of the societies went through during the Neolithic revolution. Diamond provides a realistic explanation of the development of different societies and different

The societies in the Paleolithic era differed from one another because each society had a different governments, diets, social organizations, what tools they used, and how they adapted to their environment. Some societies decided to move into a permanent settlement or village while others decided to keep their way of hunting and gathering. The societies that decided to move into a settlement started to become larger and complex. This allowed early humans to be able to accumulate more goods which caused more inequality in these societies.

continuation in producing very high amounts of corn and different corn products which has only added to the corruption of the nitrogen cycle but also the agricultural system which has only negatively impacted the American diet. Pollan continues to support his claim of how the government supports and benefits farmers for their corn by bringing up that the US Department of Agriculture pays nineteen billion dollars to farmers each year for their continuation in the production of corn.

It is possible that a social hierarchy was created when such densely packed communities were created, as now human interaction became all the more important, as the relationships between neighbors, and social groups would most likely create tension in the situation. It was also during the time of the Early neolithic in which the first clues of plant domestication began to appear. Though it was the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period in which domesticated crops including wheat, barley, lentil, peas, and legumes were found. These domesticated grains showed an increase in size and durability . Animal domestication was quick to follow, as Sheep were found to be domesticated in Turkey, Iraw, and Iran, while the reduction in size of the animals, and the discovery of the animals outside their habitat became common finds. Finally, it was during the Late Neolithic period in which a reduction in the number of large villages across the Middle East began. We can see the shift toward a way of life focused on the grazing of domesticated animals, as villages began to shrink, and the population became once again scattered across the land. It was also during this period in which a decline in the role of hunting for subsistence became apparant, as well as Late Neolithic societies reliance on plants that were domesticated during the Early Neolithic periods. We can see from this that the origin of agriculture in Europe came from the usage of Middle Eastern

The societal levels of organization clearly identify the transitioning of institutions from: bands, small nomadic herds of people, to tribes, a stable village of hundreds, to chiefdoms, when centralized governments prevail, and states, large productive societies. Stages will find that as they move up the ladder, progress is indirectly related to food production. Food production goes hand-in-hand with our ever increasing population and is responsible for turning bands into states. The domestication of plants and animals lead to complex societies where sedentary living and dense populations encouraged germs, with the interaction of farm species, and technological innovations, in the form of guns and steel.

What can our contemporary society learn from 1750 CE to the Present about “civilization?” Contemporary society refers to a modern society, at the time being, and features innovations that help the society evolve. It is characterized by increasing human interconnection, the evolution of the humane ways of life, and the ecological/anthropological transformation. A civilization is the process by which a society reaches social organization and development. Most civilizations consist of a community of humans who have some sort of government or leaders to keep everything in order.

The social and economic structures of early foraging societies are quite different from that of later agricultural societies. However, both societies share more similarities than one might think. Typically, all Paleolithic peoples were equal, but there were sometimes members that became more respected as a result of being courageous, skilled at hunting, etc. During the Neolithic Age, social divisions became more defined due to specialized labor and accumulated wealth. Foraging societies relied on loose cooperation to hunt big game for the community. Neolithic peoples were more advanced and had a specific order within their permanent settlements. Creativity in both societies was very clear. Foragers created bone sewing needles, figurines, and

Today, the diversity of human societies ranges from populations that continue to rely on foraging economies, to large, complex industrial societies (Hamilton, Burger, & Walker, 2012,

We begin with the earliest form of society. Hunter-gatherer societies which were organised on the basis of kinship and lived in collectives of clans or tribes.