ucsp 3

• Society(sociology)


  A community or group of individuals joined together by sustained bonds and interactions. It includes the origin, existence and interrelationship of groups or institutions within the community.
• Culture(anthropology)


  A way of life. It includes symbols, languages, values, and norms. According to many anthropologists, culture is defined as a set of learned behaviors and beliefs that characterize a group of people.
• Sociological perspective


  • Emphasizes that our social backgrounds influence our attitudes, behaviors, and life chances
• Human behavior is shaped by the groups to which people belong and by the social interaction that takes place within those groups
• 3 Major Sociological Perspectives

  • Symbolic Interactionism
  • Structural Functionalism
  • Conflict Theory
• Symbolic Interactionism


  Emphasizes how definitions and meanings that are created and maintained via symbolic contact with others influence human behavior
• Structural Functionalism


  • Macro theory that looks at how all structures or institutions in society work together
• Conflict Theory


  Purports that due to society's never-ending competition for finite resources, it will always be in a state of conflict
• Sociological Evolution


  Explains why human societies change through time
• What happens during sociological evolution

  1. Societies produce new forms of subsistence

  2. Societies acquire more knowledge

  3. Societies develop different levels of innovation

  4. Societies apply new forms of technology as a response to environmental challenges
• Types of society


  • Hunting and Gathering Societies-2.5m years ago
  • Horticultural Societies-around 12,000 years ago
  • Pastoral Societies- around 9,600BCE
  • Agricultural Societies – around 9,600BCE
  • Industrial Societies-18th Century
  • Post-Industrial Societies- 19th century
• Hunting and gathering societies

  • Earliest form of human society
  • Smallest size(family bands)
  • Most time spend looking for food
  • Very nomadic
  • Very low developed division of labor
• Horticultural societies


  • Formed in areas with rainfall and conditions to grow stable crops
  • Largely depended on the environment for survival
  • Didn't have to abandon location to follow resources
  • Able to start permanent settlements
  • Created more stability and more material goods
  • Basis for the first revolution in human survival
• Pastoral societies


  • People raise and herd sheep, goats, camels, and other domesticated animals
  • Use them as their major source of food
• Agricultural societies


  • Relied on permanent tools for survival
  • Around 3000 B.C.E., Agricultural Revolution made farming possible and profitable
  • Farmers learned to rotate crop types
  • Led to better harvests and bigger food surpluses
  • New metal tools were more effective and longer lasting
  • Human settlements grew into towns and cities
• Industrial societies


  • Based on using machines (particularly fuel‐driven ones) to produce goods
  • Sociologists refer to the 18th century period when mechanized factory production began as the Industrial Revolution
  • Appeared first in Britain and then spread to the rest of the world
• Post-industrial societies


  • Information technology age with wireless technology and service jobs replacing machines and factories as the economic basis
• Political Evolution and The Development of Early Civilization


  The development of the early civilizations showed the political evolution of society
• Civilizations rise and fall due to change in factors such as the environment, conflicts, and the movement of people and ideas</b>
• Early civilizations


  • Sumerian Civilization – Tigris and Euphrates River in West Asia
  • Indus Valley Civilization – Indus River Valley in India
  • Shang Civilization – Huang He Basin in China
  • Egyptian Civilization – Nile River in Egypt
• Why did civilizations flourish near rivers?

  • A river gives the inhabitants a reliable source of water for drinking and agriculture
  • Additional benefits include fishing, fertile soil due to annual flooding, and ease of transportation
• Anthropological Perspective


  Focuses on the study of the full scope of human diversity and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds
• Creation


  God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul
• Evolution Theory


  Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace used science to explain where humans came from, posing the theory of evolution
• Evolution of Man


  • Scientific evidence shows that the physical and behavioral traits shared by all people originated from apelike ancestors and evolved over a period of approximately six million years
• Stages of Human Evolution

  • Australopithecus
  • Homo
• Australopithecus


  • Lived in African jungle 5-1 million years ago
  • Brain: ½ size of the modern human brain
  • Upright & Biped
  • Tool Users only and not tool makers. Used Sticks and stones for digging
  • Food scavengers
  • Ate Insects, eggs, plants, fruits and sometimes meat
• Homo


  • Much more intelligent group of hominids
  • Classified as humans and not humanlike creatures because they had bigger brains and were bipedal
  • They first lived in Africa about 2.4 Million Years ago
  • Includes Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Homo Sapiens
• Homo Habilis (Handy Man)


  • Height: 3-4 Feet
  • Brain Size: half the size of Modern Human (700CC)
  • Made tools called Oldowan which were used as cutting tools and made from volcanic stones
  • Used tools for hunting and food gathering
• Homo Erectus (Erect Man)


  • Lived est. from 1.8 million to 300,000 years ago
  • Brain size of 1000cc or about 2/3 of the modern human brain size
  • Height: about 5 feet, Walks upright
  • More intelligent and more adaptable than Homo Habilis
  • Invented and developed different technologies to respond their needs
  • Made and used axe tools for digging, cutting, slicing and chopping
  • Skillful hunters
• Homo Sapiens (The Thinking Man)


  • Brain Size: 1,400cc – almost similar to the brain of modern humans
  • Lived in shelters
  • Food gatherers
  • Ate plants and fruits
  • Hunted animals
  • Learned to gather and cook shellfish (164,000 years ago)
  • Used fire for many purposes
  • Crafted metals
• Cro-Magnon (A Homo Sapiens Sapiens-Wise Man)


  • Appeared 40,000 years ago
  • Height: 5 feet ½ inches
  • Strong body
  • Brain size: 1,400cc
  • First fossil found in Europe but believed to first lived in North Africa and later travelled to Europe and Asia