D. Biological and Cultural Evolution

• Biological evolution


  Changes, modifications, and variations in the genetics and inherited traits of biological populations from one generation to another
• Cultural evolution


  Changes or development in cultures from a simple form to a more complex form of human culture
• Natural selection


  • Traits that enhance survival and reproductive success increase in frequency over time
  • Every species is made up of a variety of individuals wherein some are better adapted to their environment compared to others
  • Organisms produce progeny with different sets of traits that can be inherited
  • Organisms that have most suitable to their environment will survive and transfer these variations to their offspring in subsequent generations
• Sociocultural evolution - happens as a result of human adaptation to different factors like climatic changes and population increase
• Hunting and Gathering Societies


  • Produce simple forms of tools used to hunt for animals and gather plants and vegetation for food
  • Rely on nature for their food, frequently move and did not have permanent settlements
  • Family is the basic unit
  • Have a shaman or priest who acts as a leader
  • Believe that spirits live in the world
• Horticultural Societies


  • Semisedentary, subsist through small-scale farming, produce and use simple forms of hand tools to plant crops
• Pastoral Societies


  • Principal means of subsistence is animal domestication, classified as animal herders, subsist based on the resources provided by their animals, engaged in small-scale trading with other groups
• Agricultural Societies


  • Cultivate wheat, barley, peas, rice, and millet, domesticate animals, develop and improve farming technology, produce a surplus of food supply, use animal-powered wagons, use money as a form of exchange replacing the barter system
• Industrial Societies


  • New sources of energy harnessed, advanced forms of technology applied, types of machinery invented, transformation of agricultural society into production and manufacturing
• Post-Industrial Societies


  • Economic production focused on the use and application of new information technology rather than factories, production centers on computers and other electronic devices that create, process, and apply ideas and information
• Four Major Civilizations

  
  

  Sumerian - civilization along Tigris and Euphrates River in West

  
  

  AsiaIndus - Valley civilization along the Indus River Valley in

  
  

  IndiaShang - civilization of China near the Huang Hi/ Huang He

  
  

  RiverEgyptian - civilization along the Nile River