Primitive society

History is divided into two layers: the primitive society and civilizations. The initial stage of the development of mankind is the primitive system, which covers a period of time over two million years, when there were no state entities, legal norms have not yet been formed.

During its existence the primitive society passed a significant evolutionary path, during which time its socio-cultural appearance and economic structure changed. There are two main stages of primitive society: the first - the appropriating economy, the second - the producing economy. The change of stages occurs in the Neolithic period (the Neolithic revolution), in the 8-3 millennium BC.

The first stage is characterized by the emergence of man as a biosocial being. People used the simplest stone tools, lived by appropriating the products of nature (gathering, fishing, hunting), led a wandering lifestyle, united in local groups under the leadership of the leader. Such a simple form of life and social organization, reflecting the low level of development of industrial, social and cultural relations, is called a primitive herd or a community. However, despite the chaotic nature of the herd's inner life, it traces the first social norms of primitive society, rules, standards and other behavioral stereotypes.

Natural instincts begin to recede before socio-cultural stereotypes. Relations within the group are egalitarian. Distribution of food and other resources is evenly distributed. The basis of this equality is the equivalent exchange (as food, tools, and wives, etc.). The power of the leader over the group is very expressive. His will is perceived by the herd as the norm.

Complication of social ties, changes in marital relations (the appearance of exogamy, forbidding marriages between blood relatives) and the Neolithic revolution led to the emergence of family-clan groups. There was a change of herd to the clan community, which was based on family relations. Build tribal relations could be based on the principles of matrilineal or patrilineal.

The history of primitive society after the Neolithic revolution comes to a new stage. People are moving to a productive economy, which allows them not only to ensure their survival, but also to begin to target themselves with food and other necessities for life. This was the prerequisite for the transition to a settled way of life. Gradually, certain family-clan groups establish control over a certain territory. The primitive herd turns into a strong group of producers that has grown numerically and is connected with a certain territory. The new social organization is based on self-government and self-regulation.

At this stage of development, primitive society passes to a fixed division of labor, the distribution of food and marriage-family relations. The principles of equality and egalitarianism are still preserved. But, at the same time, the distribution of production could also be done taking into account the role functions of its participants (according to the principle of sex, age, etc.). Advantages in the team also had his leader. Around him, the members of the group concentrated, who in return for the benefits that they provided recognized the authority of the leader. So there was a pre-state form of power.

In the tribal communities, there are already rules of conduct that are mandatory for all members of its collective. Generic norms were associated with totems, had a mythological coloring. The order of distribution of production becomes regulated, the leader assumes control over this process. Social relations are self-adjusting: they are supported by interests, religious beliefs and other values. But this did not exclude the compulsion to follow the norms that the primitive society had developed. In violation of taboos, the offender could even be expelled or subjected to the death penalty.