Man Essay, Research Paper
Primitive Man and Civilized Man are Alike in Many Areas
An Analogy
Early civilizations are credited with introducing government, art, and religion,
among other things to the modern world. Does the credit actually belong to the people
who created these early civilizations or to those that came before? The final product may
be considered greater and certainly more polished than the product created by early man.
All things found in an ancient civilization were actually brought to them by the collective
memories of the people that came before.
Little is known about human life during the Paleolithic Period, 35,000 to 10,000
BC. Cave paintings and a few clay statuettes are the sum total of what has survived the
years for modern archeologists to study. (Arts and Culture, An Introduction to the
Humanities, p. 14,15 ) Anything made of wood or bone has long since turned to dust.
( Everyday Life Through The Ages, p 13 ) Other evidence has come to light in recent
times. Burial sites that have been discovered allow us to peek into the remote past. These
discoveries support the idea of an awareness of and homage paid to the spirits and natural
forces that shaped the world that these prehistoric people lived in. Several remote tribes
have been discovered this century . Prior to their discovery, these remote tribes, some
numbering in the many thousands, believed that they were the only people on the earth.
( The Third Chimpanzee, p 223 ) We can relate the life styles of these remote people, who
have lived many thousands of years cut off from the rest of civilization, to our ancestors
who lived in prehistoric times.
Humans all over the world, since the beginning of recorded times have followed
along the same path. That is the path of creativity, worship, and organization. Many of
the things we attribute to early civilizations had its beginnings in our common prehistoric
past. Ancient civilizations and early man are alike in many ways, some of them being,
religion, government and organization.
God-kings, that is kings who took on the mantle of a God, ruled early civilizations.
They were worshipped by the masses, and acted as intermediary between the forces that
controlled nature and the human subjects that lived on earth. Early man also had an
intermediary to act as go-between on behalf of the people. He or she would have been a
shaman, or priest. This person would have been someone who would be counted on to
advise the chief of the tribe or community on matters relating to the ?Gods.? ( The Third
Chimpanzee, p 287 )
Every force of nature was a mystery to early man, as it was to those that lived in
the first, early civilizations, and therefore a belief developed that those forces needed to be
controlled. These questions that have troubled mankind from its earliest days: Who are
we? Where are we? How did we get here? They have all been answered through the
ages in one way or another. ( The Book Of The Ancient World, p 8 )
Cave paintings in Lascaux, France that date to 17,000 BC, have been found that
show graphic presentations of animals. Spearheads have been driven into some of these
animal representations. These rites by early man were held to either bring success to the
hunt, or to thank the Gods for their success at a recent hunt. We see that animal worship
made its way into early civilizations also. Animal representations have been found in
tombs from the earliest days of civilized Mesopotamia. Animal representations are present
also in religious symbols from the earliest civilizations. Early man would have had to live
in harmony with nature. Civilized man, took this harmonious coexistence one step further,
and incorporated animals into their worship of Gods. An early example of this is
demonstrated on the Palette of Narmer, the Egyptian king who is credited with beginning
Egyptian history. On it, Hathor, the cow-headed goddess who protects the city of the
dead is present. Also present is a hawk or falcon, symbol of the god Horus. Another
example of animal worship in ancient Egypt was the ?family God,? Bes. This was a
grotesque creature, part dwarf and part lion. His job was to protect the family, and was
found in many homes. On judgment day, an Egyptian believed he would face the Jackal
Judge. A heart heavy with sin would tip the scales and a terrible monster would devour
the sinner. If someone lived a virtuous life, the scales would balance, and the person
would have eternal bliss. ( Arts and Culture, An Introduction to The Humanities, p 8
Fertility and a renewal of things, birth of people and animals, the seasons, and of
vegetation used for food sources were also very important to early man, as it was to
early-civilized man. What is believed to be a fertility figure, the Venus of Willendorf, was
found that dates to 30,000 years ago. (Quest For The Past, p 12 ) Also, the cave paintings
represent what is thought to be a ?mother earth? theory. That is, by painting the animals
so close to the center, or womb of the earth, more animals would be born. ( Everyday Life
Through The Ages, p 17 ) Early civilizations also focused on fertility, and created Gods to
ensure continued fertility of the population. In early Mesopotamia, the Sumarians
worshipped Ninhursag, or Mother Earth. She was the source of all life, and from her
came the birth of plants. Daily sacrifices were also made to the Gods in temples in every
major city in Mesopotamia. The most important of these was a spring ritual called the
New Year Holiday. After several days of ceremony, a ?Sacred Marriage? took place
between the King, who took the role of Dumuzi, an early ruler of the town Erech. A high
priestess would take the roll of Inanna, who was the principle deity of Erech. This ritual
re-enactment of the original ceremony, according to legend, would ensure the fertility of
the land, and the king?s long life. ( Cradle Of Civilization, p 106 ) Gods of fertility are
seen throughout the early civilizations. Eros, the God of love and Aphrodite, the
Goddess of love, were worshipped by the Greeks, the Snake Goddess by the Minoan?s,
and Cupid and Venus, by the Romans.
The concept of a life after death has been with mankind at least since we dwelled
in caves. Archeologist?s have uncovered evidence in cave dwellings that support this
theory. Stone Age graves have been found that contain not only the remains of a person,
but pollen evidence that a ceremony followed the persons death. Axes, spears, and
?throwing sticks? have been found in many graves. These are items that would be needed
by the person in the afterlife. The graves were often located under the fire pit, which
would have been considered a sacred place by early man. ( Everyday Life Through The
Ages, p 17 ) Fire, among other ?magical? things, would have been worshipped by a cave
dwelling people. ( The Book Of The Ancient World, p 6 ) We find that the Romans had a
strong belief in an afterlife also. Pharaoh would be entombed with riches, food, and
servants to provide for him in the afterlife. ( The Book Of The Ancient World, p 25 )
The word government comes from the Latin word, gubernare, which means, ?to
steer a ship.? Among primitive people that live today, the leader may be only the oldest
person in the tribe, and therefore respected. People tend to follow those that are
respected. ( The Third Chimpanzee, p 220 ) It might be that the leader of an early culture
might well have been the best hunter, organizer and the strongest man in the village. In
ancient Mesopotamia, Greece, and Rome, just to name a few, the kings or rulers were
anointed as God-Kings. It is not unthinkable to consider that somewhere in early human
development, the duties and responsibilities of the shaman might have become joined with
those of the tribal leader. This would have allowed a tribal leader to, ?steer the ship?
while at the same time provide answers to the multitude of questions about the mysterious
world these stone age people lived in. It has been thought that stone age man relied
totally upon storytelling to pass needed information from one generation to another. This
has theory has recently been found to be inaccurate. Ice age relics now support the view
that stone age man was more sophisticated that previously thought. Rock are and tools
have been discovered in Australia which date to 100,000 years ago. (The Way Of The
World, p 19, 20)
Pebbles and other stone surfaces have been found with markings engraved
on them, that date to the time of the last Ice Age. Alexander Marshack, of the Harvard
University was able to decode these engraved markings. Dr. Marshack discovered that
the markings were notations that, kept track of sequences of events that recur: the regular
patterns of animal, bird, and fish behavior tied to the seasons, for example, that are to be
seen on the earth and in the heavens. ( The Way Of The World, p 19, 20 ) This would be
the type of information that would be observed and shared with others over a long period
of time, generations even.
This new evidence puts doubt to the previous theory that writing first developed in
ancient Mesopotamia. While it may be true that writing may have been more thoroughly
developed there, writing in some form has existed since at least the Ice Age. A culture
that has developed some form of writing, would certainly be advanced enough to have
established some form of government, even if it were rudimentary. (National Geographic,
page 126)
Strong evidence exists that prehistoric man possessed the organizational skill
necessary to hunt as a group. Fossil evidence of mass killings of large animals lend credit
to the theory that early man had an established language by the end of the last Ice Age.
While a group of hunter-gatherer people would not need established roads, permanent
homes, and decorative items such as large pottery and artistic sculpture, they would
possess the skills that would be necessary should that lifestyle change. Cave dwellings
have been found that have roof structures added to prevent wind and the elements from
entering the cave. (The Cambridge Ancient History, page 79-80) Several primitive
cultures have been found in the past century. These cultures developed separate from
modern civilization since the dawn of their culture. Most possess the ability to build
rudimentary structures, have a language that is their own, unique language, and to
manufacture what is needed for survival. (The Third Chimpanzee, page 51) Experiments
have been conducted as far back as the Pharaoh, Psammeticus. In this experiment,
documented by Herodotus, the ancient historian, Psammeticus ordered a shepherd to raise
two boys in total silence. He estimated that the first words the boys spoke would be the
oldest language known. After years of nothing but meaningless babble, the shepherd
reported to the Pharaoh that one of the boys had said the word, ?becos,? which meant
bread in the Phrygian language spoken in Turkey. While some doubt is cast on the validity
of this experiment, the fact remains that people raised in total social isolation, like the wolf
boy of Aveyron, remain virtually speechless and won?t invent or discover a language.
However, in a community or tribe, where survival depends upon communication and
exchange of ideas, language would develop early if the people who lived in that
community or tribe expected to live and thrive. Scientists have discovered that vervets, a
type of monkey, have at least ten putative ?words,? that the troop use and understand.
(The Third Chimpanzee, page 155) If members of the animal kingdom rely on ?words?
for survival, it would not be surprising to find that early cave dwellers would have
developed a complex language to help ensure their survival.
At the dawn of civilization, these skills that, while rudimentary, would have already
been known by man. As farming and domestication of animals began to replace the
hunter-gatherer lifestyle, improvements in building techniques, manufacture of needed
goods, and established roads would have taken on more importance than ever before. By
the time of the first civilization, these techniques would have been well known and fairly
well refined. What was needed was better organization and better communication to bring
all of the already established processes together.
While it is clear that the early civilizations took the processes that were already in
place and built upon them, every ?piece of the puzzle? was already available to them.
Established government hierarchy, religious beliefs, and an organizational structure would
have already been established. It seems incredulous that any civilization could come into
being without a culture or cultures already being advanced to the point where the roots of
a civilization could take hold. Working backwards, an advanced culture could not come
into existence without the sophisticated framework that an early culture would grow into.
The knowledge and experience of a fairly advanced tribal culture would set the stage for
an early township or community, and organizational skills, establishment of religion, and a
working form of government was already necessary for a tribal culture whether
considered sophisticated or not, to survive.
Benton, Jenetta Rebold and Robert DiYammi. 1998 Arts and Culture, An Introduction To
The Humanitites. New Jersey. Pretence Hall
Best, Nicholas. 1984 Quest For The Past. USA: Readers Digest Association
Boardman, John. The Cambridge Ancient History. 1982. New York. Cambridge
University Press
Briggs, Asa. 1992 Everyday Life Through The Ages. Berkely Square, London Readers
Digest
Diamond, Jared. 1992 The Third Chimpanzee. New York. Harper
Collins
Edwards, Mike. ?Indus Civilization? National Geographic Vol 197, No 6, June 2000,
page 126
Fromkin, David. 1998 The Way Of The World. New York Alfred A. Knoph
Kramer, Samuel. 1971 Cradle Of Civilization. Morristown, New Jersey. Time Life Books
Mills, Dorothy. 1951 The Book Of The Ancient World. New York. G.P. Putnam?s Sons