A.

Stages of Mans Cultural Development: Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic

Periods, Age of Metals
1. Paleolithic.

Greek words: a.Palaois, old; b.lithos, stone.

The making and using of tools is the first evidence of the human ability
to use reason to solve problems.
Lasted for less than half a million years, 500,000BC 8000BC.
This stage was a food-collecting stage, characterized by hunting and the
collecting of wild fruits, nuts, and berries.
According to the descendants of the Paleolithic men, the Indians of the
rainforests of Brazil, labor was divided according to sex. Men hunted,
fished, and protected the group. Women gathered wild plants, fruits, and
nuts, and prepared the food for eating; they also processed animal hides
and wood into household objects and cared for the children. Men and
women shared tasks in building dwellings, making ornaments and tools,
and training children for adult life.
The highest achievement of late Paleolithic culture was art. Their art
ranges from animated, realistic paintings of bison, reindeer, primitive
horses, and other animals, colored in shades of black, red, yellow, and
brown. These were found in the caves inhabited by the Cro-Magnon man
in Spain and France, dating from 28,000-10,000 BC.

Benjamin Franklin credited with first defining the human being as a ToolMaking Animal

2. Mesolithic Culture.

Because of the final retreat of the glaciers about 10,000 BC, Europe
became covered with dense forests. Some of the animals hunted by the
Paleolithic men became extinct and they adjusted to the new
environment. They developed a new culture known as Mesolithic or
transitional culture. They lived along the coast, fishing, and gathering
shellfish. Others lived inland, where they made bows and arrows for
hunting and devised skis, sleds, and dugout canoes. They also
domesticated dogs.

3. The Neolithic Revolution.

The New Stone Age. Greek words: Neos, New; and lithos, stone.
Shorter than the Old Stone Age, lasting from 8,000 BC 4,000 BC.
There is a shift from food gathering to food producing.
Aside from hunting and fishing, they had agriculture, herding, pottery,
and weaving. They wore clothes made of plant fibers. They domesticated
animals. They sharpened their tools and weapons by polishing their
edges. Thus, the period which they lived has been known also as the

Polished Stone Age. Finally, they learned to build dug-outs, the worlds
first boats.
4. Age of Metals.

This new age began about 4,000 BC, making the transition from the
prehistoric period to the historic period. These are:
a. Copper. The first metal used in the orient particularly the
Sumerians and Egyptians.
b. Bronze. About 3,500 BC. The oriental people learned by
mixing copper and tin, a harder metal could be produced;
c. Iron. About 1,500 BC. The Hittites of Asia Minor were the
first people to use iron tools and weapons and it was spread
to the neighboring Europe.

B. Enculturation and Socialization

How is culture ingrained in children?

1. Biological Inheritance (Nature) Sociobiologists
2. Cultural Inheritance (Nurture) Social Learning Theorists
Social Learning Theorists: argue that the set of behaviors of an individual
is acquired through enculturation and socialization process. The
variation in human behaviour is attributed to the differences in cultural
templates of every society that the individual learns from.
Sociobiologists: advocate that human acquire their behaviour genetically.
Beneficial biological traits are naturally selected and passed on to the
next generation. As such, behavioural traits that are linked to biological
traits necessary for survival in a specific environment are naturally
selected within a generation and get passed on to the next.
Socialization: a term used by sociologists to refer to the process by which
an individual is oriented and taught by his or her societys norm. These
norms include beliefs, attitudes, practices, and behaviors. Similarly, this
process is studied in anthropology through the concept of enculturation.

Identity Formation

The compilation of the values, attitudes, and beliefs that individuals

receive from their family, peers, and community enables them to create a
personal identity that simultaneously separates them from the other
members of the group and incorporates them in its system. Such
differentiation from the general social template is called individuation.
Social Identity: is a persons notion of who he or she is in society. This
includes the roles and statuses that he or she performs in accord to what
the society expects of him or her.
Two Primary Types of Identity:

o 1. Primary Identity: roles and statuses that an individual learns as

a child. This includes the core social identities that are often
ascribed to an individual such as sex, age, and ethnicity.
o 2. Secondary Identity: includes roles and statuses that are
achieved such as occupation, educational background, economic
status, and gender. As a child gets enculturated and socialized
with his or her societys norm, he or she participates in the
construction of his or her secondary identity.
Duality of Identity (Model of Consciousness: The I and Me Perspective)
pp. 63.
The model presents a fourfold understanding of human identity: The
existential I, the doing me, the cultural I, and the performing me.
These categories promote a holonic concept of the self the self is both a
whole and a part. The self in the context of the personal pertains to the
wholeness of an individuals identity. This leads back to the uniqueness
of every individual. The self in the context of it being a part of a whole
reflects on the ascribed roles that it plays within the context of society.

Theories on Identity

The Role Learning Theory: individuals learn a repertoire of social roles

from their society. They then reproduce this repertoire in their behaviour.
Roles constitute the social facts (e.g. gender, role, occupational role,
family role) that inhibit, empower, and influence an individuals actions.
Conformity to these social facts is rewarded by acceptance from members
of the society, whereas nonconformity results in ostracism.
Theory on Symbolic Interactionism: individuals construct their notion of
the self through social interactions performed within a society. This
implies that roles and their performances are part of a creative process
wherein individual sees the behavior of others and responds to it by
creating a role that it can play. This presents humans as social actors
performing within a cultural or social field.