Biography of inequality

The origin of social inequality Terms: tribe, advice of elders, prayer, idols, victims, neighboring community, leader, state. Changes in the economic life of ancient people in the Neolithic era led to the complication of the structure of primitive society. The social system of ancient people began to evolve and acquire many new features. How did these changes happen?

The gender and tribe over time the transition to agriculture and cattle breeding led to changes within the primitive human society. The tribal communities of hunters and gatherers were replaced by tribal communities of farmers and cattle breeders. Large communities were divided into smaller ones, since fertile earth was not enough for all relatives. Some primitive people went in search of a new place and created a new settlement next door.

The marriage between girls and boys of the same kind was prohibited, so close alliances were often between neighboring generic communities. The unified union of several tribal communities, which formed in the same area, was a tribe. All participants in the tribe were connected by general origin, language and customs. At the head of the tribe stood the Council of Elders - the wise and experienced members of the tribe clans, who knew the habits of animals and the properties of plants, ancient legends and the rules of behavior.

The functions of the Council of Elders Council monitored the performance of relatives of economic work in the fields and equally distributed the collected crops and products obtained from cattle breeding. Also, the Council of Elders was engaged in the analysis of disputes between fellow tribesmen and the definition of punishments for guilty. The most terrible punishment for the ancient man was exile from the tribe, since in those days it was difficult to survive alone.

Also, under the leadership of the elders, festivities were held, where the relatives tried to cause rain or secure a successful hunt with dancing and songs. Pierre Zhubert. From the book Les Temps Prehistoriques, G. The most important issues of the life of the tribe, for example, relocation to new lands, were decided at a joint meeting of all adult relatives. Primitive people believed that everything was animated in nature, so they turned to the sun, wind, rain and other natural phenomena with requests.

From various materials, relatives made an image of the gods and spirits, which were called idols. To appease the idols and attract good luck, primitive people brought them victims in the form of food or animal. The Shigir Idol to find out more than the Shigir idol is the oldest wooden sculpture, known to the scientist, was found in the Middle Urals. It is called the "Shigir idol." A humanoid figure is made of a log of Siberian larch.

According to the latest estimates of archaeologists, the age of this idol is more than 12 thousand. It was created by the ancient Urals from the era of the Mesolithic of the Middle Stone Age. The body of the idol is decorated with an ornament.

Several humanoid persons are also cut on it - “larvae”. This find indicates that religious representations in the form of idolatry arose more than centuries ago! The drawing of the Shigirsky idol by V. Tolmachev is approximately 10 thousand. Thus, the Neolithic revolution influenced not only economic changes in people's lives, but also changed the social appearance of ancient human societies.

The neighbor's community for a long time the first farmers used a hoe for field processing. However, the work of a hoe is a very exhausting and long work, in addition, a light hoe could only be used in fields with soft soil, where there are no roots of perennial herbs. Such convenient for cultivation of the Earth was not enough for everyone, so the ancient farmers had a need for the invention of a new tool, with the help of which it would be possible to dig the Earth and cut the roots of plants.

Such an invention was the plow - a heavy log with twigs. A person did not have enough physical strength to drag him across the field, so he learned to harness the bulls into the plow. Thanks to the use of a plow to loosen the earth, the need for a joint work of a large team of people has disappeared. Families began to leave the tribal community - they settled separately and cultivated their plots of land on their own.

In the neighborhood, they arranged their homes of the family from other births. Each family had its own cattle, its own tools and houses, and only pastures, forests and reservoirs remained in joint ownership. The head of the family disposed of the crop, he also negotiated with the heads of other families about mutual assistance in difficult work, when it was necessary to dig a pond, drain the swamp or build a dam.

Gradually, related ties were lost, the neighboring community replaced the family community, since not relatives, but community neighbors lived in it. The arrangement of the neighboring community, the origin of social inequality from the unification of individual tribes formed tribal unions with common arable lands and pastures. Sometimes different tribal unions could not divide fertile fields, cattle and metals, so wars began, where each participant in the Union was supposed to protect “their” inhabitants and fight against “strangers”.

Often such wars took on the character of predatory raids.If the theft and murder was strictly punished in their tribe, then the robbery of a stranger tribe was considered valor. At the time of military operations, the head of the tribe became the most brave and skilled warrior - a leader elected at a meeting of all adult men. He collected fellow tribesmen to protect and organize trips to neighbors.

The elders and leaders enjoyed special honor and respect in the tribe, they received the best lands and animals. The captured captives from other people's unions became slaves and had to work for the leaders of the tribes who won the war. Gradually, the leaders and elders began to form a generic nobility. Nobility began to be inherited. The sons of leaders and elders received the best plots of land and most of the military booty.

The noble people managed the tribal union management scheme managed the tribe, disposed of resources, judged other residents, that is, they gained power over the entire territory where the tribe lived. Giuseppe Rava so inequality arose - when the position of a person in the tribe began to depend on his origin and wealth. In the future, the emergence of inequality and the need to protect their lands will lead to the formation of the first states.

The state is a form of organizing power in a certain territory. The state has borders, ruler, uniform laws and the army, collects taxes from the population. It controls society to ensure order and stability. The improvement of tools and the discovery of metals contributed to the development of agriculture, livestock and crafts. Now the need for the joint work of the entire community has disappeared, the family could get out of it and carry out work on Earth on its own.

Improving the working conditions led to the emergence of excess products and the development of exchange and trade, which, together with the robbery wars, led to the emergence of a nobility and inequality in society. Task 1. Explain how the tribe differs from the tribal community? What difficulties did residents of the tribe have to deal with? Make a small story “One day from the life of an ancient tribe”.