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InternationalInstitute of Anthropology
Lolita Nikolova, PhD
Created: August 2, 2009.
Last updated: August 2, 2009.
Lolita Nikolova, PhD
Created: August 2, 2009.
Last updated: August 2, 2009.
| Prehistory as the foundation of civilization |
We have been living in a changing world of reconsideration of all human values. Although as may believe that
the Cold War is over after the fall of the Berlin Wall, our everydayness shows that it is not true. The Berlin wall
fell down but another wall was built - the invisible psychotronic wall that makes all of living under the feeling that
we may feel well today but we never know what would happen tomorrow. For this reason, today we do not have
epochs-ideals or people-ideals just because of the names of the epochs or because of certain activities of
given individuals. We want to know in depth about everything and about everybody, to be able to reveal the
terrifying invisible behavior of visible dignitaries and to recognize as heroes who suffered from the psychotronic
war of dignitaries, people with power or just crazy individuals, who could be all around at any corner of the
world. Unfortunately, it is not easy and in some cases even impossible. Because such people steal the clothes
of power from the honest ones and practice power in the most corrupted way.
There is one epoch, that probably can help - Prehistory. The society of prehistory was not less complex than
ours and this was society that in fact built the foundation of our contemporary civilization. The prehistory people
invented the fire, clothes, weapons, houses, transport, music, mythology, religions, and even writings. We have
been following their models and in many ways we are like them - in the way we look at ourselves, at the world
and at others, in the way we accepted the innovations, we created the ideals of beauty, the concepts of wealths.
In many ways we look like their direct descendants.
the Cold War is over after the fall of the Berlin Wall, our everydayness shows that it is not true. The Berlin wall
fell down but another wall was built - the invisible psychotronic wall that makes all of living under the feeling that
we may feel well today but we never know what would happen tomorrow. For this reason, today we do not have
epochs-ideals or people-ideals just because of the names of the epochs or because of certain activities of
given individuals. We want to know in depth about everything and about everybody, to be able to reveal the
terrifying invisible behavior of visible dignitaries and to recognize as heroes who suffered from the psychotronic
war of dignitaries, people with power or just crazy individuals, who could be all around at any corner of the
world. Unfortunately, it is not easy and in some cases even impossible. Because such people steal the clothes
of power from the honest ones and practice power in the most corrupted way.
There is one epoch, that probably can help - Prehistory. The society of prehistory was not less complex than
ours and this was society that in fact built the foundation of our contemporary civilization. The prehistory people
invented the fire, clothes, weapons, houses, transport, music, mythology, religions, and even writings. We have
been following their models and in many ways we are like them - in the way we look at ourselves, at the world
and at others, in the way we accepted the innovations, we created the ideals of beauty, the concepts of wealths.
In many ways we look like their direct descendants.
cp.
Brinton, Crane (et al.) (1984). A History of Civilization: Prehistory to 1715 (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-389866-0.
Çatalhöyük. http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Charles, E. Corry. (2003) Foundations Of Civilization. http://www.ejfi.org/Civilization/Civilization-15.htm
Drews, Robert (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C..
Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04811-8.
Fairservis, Walter A., Jr. (1975). The Threshold of Civilization: An Experiment in Prehistory. New York: Scribner.
ISBN 0-684-12775-X.
Ferrill, Arther (1985). The Origins of War: From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great. New York: Thames and
Hudson. ISBN 0-500-25093-6.
Kradin, Nikolay. Archaeological Criteria of Civilization. Social Evolution & History, Vol. 5, No 1 (2006): 89-108.
ISSN 1681-4363.
Paleolithic art (2006). Paleolithic art. State Hermitage Museum.
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_2_1.html
Venus figurines (online). Venus figurines. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines
Brinton, Crane (et al.) (1984). A History of Civilization: Prehistory to 1715 (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, N.J.:
Prentice-Hall. ISBN 0-13-389866-0.
Çatalhöyük. http://www.catalhoyuk.com/
Charles, E. Corry. (2003) Foundations Of Civilization. http://www.ejfi.org/Civilization/Civilization-15.htm
Drews, Robert (1993). The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe ca. 1200 B.C..
Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04811-8.
Fairservis, Walter A., Jr. (1975). The Threshold of Civilization: An Experiment in Prehistory. New York: Scribner.
ISBN 0-684-12775-X.
Ferrill, Arther (1985). The Origins of War: From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great. New York: Thames and
Hudson. ISBN 0-500-25093-6.
Kradin, Nikolay. Archaeological Criteria of Civilization. Social Evolution & History, Vol. 5, No 1 (2006): 89-108.
ISSN 1681-4363.
Paleolithic art (2006). Paleolithic art. State Hermitage Museum.
http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/03/hm3_2_1.html
Venus figurines (online). Venus figurines. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venus_figurines
There are misleading concepts today regarding civilization:
1. Defining of the civilization based on the original meaning of the
word civil (related to state). This is unuseful because of the long
history of the term within which it was opposed to barbarous. Since
there are no barbarous cultures, civilization should relate to any
culture without any evaluative sense.
2. Using for the first time the word civilization for the so-called
ancient civilizations (Mesopotamia). The correct term is early state
civilizations or ancient state civilizations
3. Searching difference between culture and civilization.
Civilization equals human culture since the human culture is a
product of a complex social life. Then, any prehistoric culture is a
civilization if it includes elements of organized social life or in other
words of complex society. From this perspectives, we still cannot point
to the first civilization in the world since we do not know a lot about the
social life of the earliest people. But without doubt, the first civilizations
are neither Mesopotamia nor Gonur-depe nor Çatalhöyük (see The
first civilization). Both cites just show a degree of development of
social complexity in the earliest, prehistoric stage of the human
civilization that did not develop in a straight evolutionary progressive
line. We have been taught in a spiral model of the historical
development, then the conceptual terms should be invariant in
relation to the spiral. Then, the civilization is at the beginning of the
spiral and we do not know which archaeological culture can be
applied there since the earliest stages of the human evolution are
known by single evidence and not based on data about the earliest
human complex society.
1. Defining of the civilization based on the original meaning of the
word civil (related to state). This is unuseful because of the long
history of the term within which it was opposed to barbarous. Since
there are no barbarous cultures, civilization should relate to any
culture without any evaluative sense.
2. Using for the first time the word civilization for the so-called
ancient civilizations (Mesopotamia). The correct term is early state
civilizations or ancient state civilizations
3. Searching difference between culture and civilization.
Civilization equals human culture since the human culture is a
product of a complex social life. Then, any prehistoric culture is a
civilization if it includes elements of organized social life or in other
words of complex society. From this perspectives, we still cannot point
to the first civilization in the world since we do not know a lot about the
social life of the earliest people. But without doubt, the first civilizations
are neither Mesopotamia nor Gonur-depe nor Çatalhöyük (see The
first civilization). Both cites just show a degree of development of
social complexity in the earliest, prehistoric stage of the human
civilization that did not develop in a straight evolutionary progressive
line. We have been taught in a spiral model of the historical
development, then the conceptual terms should be invariant in
relation to the spiral. Then, the civilization is at the beginning of the
spiral and we do not know which archaeological culture can be
applied there since the earliest stages of the human evolution are
known by single evidence and not based on data about the earliest
human complex society.
The figurine from Çatalhöyük that
resembles the Paleolithic figurines in
Europe. (external link)
resembles the Paleolithic figurines in
Europe. (external link)