Q1 Ucsp RM 5-6

Understanding Culture, Society and Politics
Quarter 1 – WEEK 5-6:

Significance of Cultural, Social,
Political and Economic Symbols and Practices
Artifact is an object remaining from a particular period.
(Jastrow 2021)
An artifact, or artefact is something made or given

shape by humans, such as a tool or a work of art,
especially an object of archaeological interest. In
archaeology, however, the word has become a term of
particular nuance and is defined as: an object
recovered by archaeological endeavor, which may be a
cultural artifact having cultural interest.
Tool Traditions
Oldowan tools are part of the Lower Paleolithic
stage of technological development. They were made
by Homo habilis, and also by early Homo erectus.
There were two main types of Oldowan tools: core tools
and flake tools
1. Core tools- were made by using a rock as a
hammer to knock flakes off another stone,
resulting in a chopping tool that could be held
easily in the hand. The tool could also be used for
hammering or digging.
(Sanchez 2016)
2. Flake tools-were the flakes of rock that were

removed in the process of making the core tools.
Flake tools were used as knives. They were used,
for example, to butcher animals, as evidenced by
cut marks on animal bones found in association
with the tools.
Acheulian Tools
Homo erectus developed a more complex tool from
what they inherited from Homo habilis. Using the same
process of percussion flaking, Homo erectus created
hand axes that were bifacial, shaped in both sides and
with straighter and sharper edges. These stones were
used in multiple activities such as light chopping of
woods, digging up roots and bulbs, butchering animals,
cracking nuts and small bones. Homo erectus made
other tools such as choppers, cleavers, and hammers
as well as flakes used as knives and scrapers.
(FlexBooks 2018)
Mousterian Tools
Was developed by Homo neaderthalensis
(Neanderthals) in Europe and West Asia. The tools from
this industry combined Acheulian industry technique,
which involved the use of premade core tool and
extraction of a flake tool that has sharpened edges.
This type of tool is very efficient as all the sides of the
flake tool are sharpened and are more handy.
(Nicolas 2009)
Upper Paleolithic Tools

By about 75 thousand years ago, some early
modern humans began making tools that were
significantly different from the earlier Mousterian tools.
They have been categorized in several different tool
traditions in the Upper Paleolithic stage of technological
development. These new tools have been found in sites
in Europe and elsewhere in the Old World and more
recently in the New World. They range from blades of
various shapes and sizes to barbed harpoon heads.
(Wikimedia 2007)
Types of Society
Although humans have established many types of
societies throughout history, sociologists and
anthropologists (experts who study early and tribal
cultures) usually refer to six basic types of societies,
each defined by its level of technology.
Hunting and Gathering Societies

The members of hunting and gathering societies
primarily survive by hunting animals, fishing, and
gathering plants. Most of them were nomadic, moving
constantly in search of food and water.
Pastoral Societies
Members of pastoral societies, which first emerged
12,000 years ago, pasture animals for food and
transportation.
Domesticating animals allows for a more
manageable food supply than do hunting and
gathering. Hence, pastoral societies are able to produce
a surplus of goods, which makes storing food for future
use a possibility. Pastoral societies allow certain of its
members (those who are not domesticating animals) to
engage in non-survival activities. Traders, healers,
spiritual leaders, craftspeople, and people with other
specialty professions appear.
Horticultural Societies
Horticultural societies rely on cultivating fruits,
vegetables, and plants. These societies first appeared
in different parts of the planet about the same time as
pastoral societies. Like hunting and gathering societies,
horticultural societies had to be mobile. Depletion of
the land's resources or dwindling water supplies, for
example, forced the people to leave.
Agricultural Societies
Agricultural societies use technological advances to
cultivate crops (especially grains like wheat, rice, corn,
and barley) over a large area. Sociologists use the
phrase Agricultural Revolution to refer to the
technological changes that occurred as long as 8,500
years ago that led to cultivating crops and raising farm
animals.
Feudal Societies
The 9th to 15th centuries, feudalism was a form of
society based on ownership of land. Unlike today's
farmers, vassals under feudalism were bound to
cultivating their lord's land. In exchange for military
protection, the lords exploited the peasants into
providing food, crops, crafts, homage, and other
services to the owner of the land.
Industrial Societies
Industrial societies are based on using machines
(particularly fuel‐driven ones) to produce goods.
Sociologists refer to the period during the 18th century
when the production of goods in mechanized factories
began as the Industrial Revolution.
As productivity increased, means of transportation
improved to better facilitate the transfer of products
from place to place. Great wealth was attained by the
few who owned factories, and the “masses” found jobs
working in the factories.
Post-industrial Societies
Sociologists note that with the advent of the
computer microchip, the world is witnessing a
technological revolution. This revolution is creating a
postindustrial society based on information, knowledge,
and the selling of services. That is, rather than being
driven by the factory production of goods, society is
being shaped by the human mind, aided by computer
technology. Although factories will always exist, the key
to wealth and power seems to lie in the ability to
generate, store, manipulate, and sell information.
Processes of Cultural and Sociopolitical Evolution
The Neolithic Revolution

This period is characterized by a major shift in
economic subsistence of early humans from foraging to
agriculture. This dramatic shift affected the other
aspects of their lifestyle, as foraging made them
nomads and agriculture encouraged permanent
settlement.
Early Civilization and the Rise of the State
The earliest civilizations rose by the end of the

Neolithic period as the complexities brought about by
the shift in food production demanded a more rigid
social structure that would manage the opposing
perspective of various sectors. As a conflict between
groups developed and intensified, the need to create a
more cohesive society became definite.
Early civilizations were characterized by the

presence of city-states, a system of writing and a
ceremonial center where public debates and decision
were made. However, it must be noted that not all
societies during this period could be considered as
civilizations as not all possessed a political system that
could be equated to a state. A state is apolitical entity
that has four requisite elements: territory, sovereignty,
people and government.
Democratization of Early Civilization

The traditional view on the history of democracy
highlights its development among the city states of
ancient Greece, around 507 BCE. It is believed that an
Athenian statesman named Cleisthenes proposed
demokratia as a political ideology that aimed at
dispersing power from the monopoly of the elites to the
masses. This allows for the closing n of social gaps
between diverging social groups.

Q1 Ucsp RM 5-6

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Understanding Culture, Society and Politics

Quarter 1 – WEEK 5-6:

Artifact is an object remaining from a particular period.

An artifact, or artefact is something made or given

2. Flake tools-were the flakes of rock that were

Upper Paleolithic Tools

Hunting and Gathering Societies

Processes of Cultural and Sociopolitical Evolution

The Neolithic Revolution

The earliest civilizations rose by the end of the

Early civilizations were characterized by the

Democratization of Early Civilization

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