Cultural Anthropology - Essay Example

The hunter- gatherers are known to be the most primitive form of ancient man for it relies mainly on gathering and hunting food for its subsistence. Indeed, Lowie ( 1946) was accurate when he argued that this group “ "must work much harder in order to live than tillers and breeders" (p. 13). On the other hand, the Neolithic Man learned how to raise subsistence crops and domesticate animals such as pigs, goats, dogs and cattle for their economic need. In fact, the later part of the Neolithic Age showed that this people also developed pottery especially those group found in the Near East.

When it comes to society, the Hunter society is considered flat since there are no hierarchical authority and the social structure is egalitarian. The hunters are usually grouped in a band that has an average of 15 members. On the contrary, the Neolithic Man are usually grouped in tribes with at least “150 up to 2000 members” ( Rigby, 2000). However, like the hunter society, studies about Neolithic Man also revealed that hierarchy is not evident in their society. Many scholars believed that both societies had “ primitive communism” wherein they all equally worked hard for the benefit of the community.

Also, the social life of these groups mainly focused on the home and their families. The “ primal religion” of these two groups are similar. These societies believed in a concept of “god” that existed in nature. God was magical for them since he existed in forms such as thunder, fire, lightning which they showed much respect. These two groups also believed that people have spirits and that they travel into another dimension. Even in the hunter society, burial was practiced which illustrated their respect for the dead body.

Shamans or witchdoctors were also recognized as people who can heal or communicate with spirits. In short, religious beliefs already pervaded the life of early man.Works Cited :Lowie, R. (1946 ). An introduction to Cultural Anthropology (2nd ed.) New York. Rinehart. Rigby , L.(2000). Evolutionary Origins of Morality: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives. United kingdom: Imprint Academic. pp. 352. Retrieved on 12 Jan 2010 from http://books.google.com/books? id=inmTyPPdR5oC&pg=RA1-PA158&dq=Neolithic+ egalitarianism&lr=&sig =VOAK5WWAg2del4rIQKQIaQ4EGzQ#PRA1-PA158,M1.

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