Three Stages of Human Cultural Evolution

Anthropologists assert that the human culture has developed over time from simpler forms to modern complex forms. This subject has been analyzed both in unilinear and multilinear phenomena. In general, human cultural evolution has been categorized into three stages. These stages are savagery, barbarism, and civilization. Anthropologists differentiate these stages in terms of technological achievements. Notably, each stage has a distinctive technological benchmark. For instance, the savagery stage was symbolized by the humans’ ability to make fire, bows, and arrows. In general, the savagery stage was symbolized by an archaic but distinct human culture that mediated the transition from ape to human. Barbarism was marked by humans’ ability to domesticate animals, portray pottery skills, manufacture iron tools, and irrigate lands. On the other hand, civilization was marked by the humans’ ability to have spoken language and narrative styles of thought.

Animals and human beings have the ability to change the environment. Therefore, as human beings progressed from one stage to another, their activities affected the environment both in direct and indirect ways. During the savagery stage, human beings were able to make fires and hunt animals. As a result, it can be postulated that through hunting, man was able to reduce the population of the animals they hunted. Through these effects, the ecosystem was affected in one way or another. Similarly, through fires, human beings were ably burnt down vegetation cover, unlike their predecessors.

During the barbarian stage, human beings were able to cultivate and domesticate animals. Through fires, man could clear vast lands for cultivation. Equally, humans were able to carry out irrigation to improve their crop yields. Through these endeavors, they transferred some plants and animals from one region to the other, changing the flora and fauna of several continents. In some regions, transferred animals were able to exterminate indigenous plant cover. On the other hand, transferred plants dominated and exterminated indigenous plants.

Compared to the two stages, civilization has affected the environment negatively. With civilization, the human population has increased immensely, vegetation cover has been reduced, deserts turned into farmlands, pollution has taken a toll, and carbon dioxide emission has increased. Through these acts, humans have spearheaded the extinction of a number of animal and plant species. It is believed that the mammoths and Neanderthals became extinct because of human civilization. However, some acts have enabled other species to thrive, changing the ecosystems.