Sociocultural Evolution
of Societies
1
Learning Outcomes
Trace the biological and cultural evolution of early to modern humans
Explore the significance of human material remains and artefactual evidence in
interpreting cultural and social, including political and economic processes
Recognize national, local and specialized museums and archaeological and historical sites
as venues to appreciate and reflect on the complexities of biocultural and social evolution
as part of being and becoming human.
2
Society
• Society is a group of people living together in a particular place or at a
particular time and having many things in common
• Sociologists say society is a group of people with common territory,
interaction and culture.
What does society look like?
Society looks like an object itself (sui generis or unique)
Then, if society is an object, we can examine it closely and analyze it like
any other subject (We break it into pieces and explore each piece carefully)
What a biologist does to a living organism, or a geologist does to a rock, so
as a sociologist does to a society.
Society becomes something scientifically weighted, measured and
dissected
Four Diverse Perspectives for Social
Change and Societal Evolution
Karl Marx
He believed that the history of all existing society is the history of
class struggle (or class conflict) or the conflict between entire classes
over the distribution of a society’s wealth and power.
Four Diverse Perspectives for Social Change and
Societal Evolution
• Max Weber
The Rationalization of Society is the historical change from tradition – sentiments
and beliefs passed from one generation to another to rationality – deliberate,
matter-of-fact calculation of the cost effective means to accomplish a task as a
dominant mode of human thought.
Four Diverse Perspectives for Social Change and
Societal Evolution
• Emile Durkheim
He describes society as more than individuals. Society has a life of its own –
beyond our personal experiences.
Four Diverse Perspectives for Social Change and
Societal Evolution
• Gerhard Lenski
He said that sociocultural evolution is the change that occurs as a society
acquires new technology.
Sociocultural Evolution
It is the change that occurs as a society acquires new technology
Technology shapes other cultural patterns and that simple technology
can only support small numbers of people who live simple lives
The greater amount of technology a society has within its grasp, the
faster cultural change will take place
High-tech societies are capable of sustaining large numbers of people
who are engaged in a diverse division of labor.
Types of Society
Hunting and Gathering Stage
During this stage, man used simple tools to hunt animals and vegetation
Family was the primary institution
Small number of families in this society
Members are nomadic
Had high level of interdependence
Men hunted animals, women gathered
Types of Society
Horticultural and Pastoral Societies
Horticultural societies use hand tools to raise crops. People started to
stay in one place and grow their own food.
Pastoral societies started the domestication and breeding of animals for
food.
Types of Society
Agricultural Societies
The invention of the plow led to the establishment of agricultural societies.
Members of these societies tend crops with an animal harnessed to a plow.
The use of animals to pull a plow eventually led to the creation of cities and
formed the basic structure of modern societies.
Types of Society
Industrial Societies
Use advanced sources of energy, rather than humans and animals, to run
large machinery
Types of Society
Post-Industrial Societies
This type of society that has developed over the past few decades,
features an economy based on services and technology, not production
Thank you!
