SOCI 122:

Diversity of Peoples and Cultures

Topic One:
The Evolution of Humans and Their Societies

Lecturer: Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu, UG

Contact Information: kodzovi@ug.edu.gh

College of Education
School of Continuing and Distance Education
2014/2015 – 2016/2017
 Overview
• This topic discusses the evolution of humans and their
societies.
• The beginning of human societies was a helpless situation
when humans had to depend solely on the environment
and what it had to offer the inhabitants who had no idea of
innovation or invention.
• The topic, therefore, treat how it all began and the
progress achieved through time and space.

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 2

 Objectives
At the end of this topic, students should be able to:

• describe the situations of humans and their societies

from their earliest beginning;
• identify the various inventions that enabled change
in human societies;
• examine the various changes that occurred in
human societies following the various inventions.

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 3

 Reading List
• Peoples, J, & G. Bailey, Humanity: An Introduction to Cultural
Anthropology, St Paul: West Publishing Company.
• Kottak, C. P. (2004), Cultural Anthropology, Boston, McGraw Hill
Corporation.
• Kottak, C. P. (2004), Anthropology: The Exploration of Human Diversity,
Boston, McGraw
Hill Corporation.
•  Nolan, P. & G. Lenski, (2004 or any of the newer editions), Human
Societies: An Introduction to macrosociology, Boulder Paradigm
Publishers.
•  Searles R.T. & V. L. Lee, (2002), Faces of Culture, Australia: Wadsworth.
•  Sanderson, S. K. & A. S. Alderson (2005 or its newer editions), World
societies: the evolution of human life, Boston, Pearson Education Inc.
Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 4
 Evolution of
EVOLUTION OF MAN

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 5

 Evolution of
EVOLUTION OF MAN

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 6

 Topic One: The evolution of Humans

 The stages
• Australopithecus: ancestral to Homo and modern man
• Homo habilis: archaic humans from East and South Africa
believed to have been extinct
• Homo erectus: Upright man
• Homo neanderthal: closest human relative
• Homo sapiens: recent humans
• Cro-Magnon: early European early humans found in southern
France, some accounts indicate that they migrated from
Western Asia
Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 7
 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and Their
Societies
• Human forms changed tremendously over the years as are societies;
• Imagine you flip through a huge photo album of thousands of pages filled
with pictures of early humans taken over hundred thousand years ago;

• You may feel bored of watching these pictures which are very similar and
reading similar accounts about them.

• But going through some pages of both album and document, you may
begin encountering some changes in human conditions;
 

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 8

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and their
Societies (cont’d)
• From naked portraits to humans clad in animal skins sitting around fire in front of caves or shelters
built with sticks and leaves.

• Deeper into the album and the document, may exist invention of simple stone, wood, and bone tools
for hunting and protection;

• Others may be foraging for edible plants, nursing of infants, and performance of other limited basic
tasks.

• One evidence of the evolutionary journey of man and his society through the album you may be
evidence of innovation and change - burying of the dead.

• Others could be painting of cave walls, engaging in new rituals, new kind of tools etc. may emerge as
you go further into the album.
 

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 9

Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and Their
Societies (cont’d)
• Further into the album would be evidence of domestication
of animals and animals rearing , some small permanent
settlements, some people seriously beginning farming as it
occurred in today’s Middles East ,etc.

• Then the evidence of major scientific breakthroughs and

inventions occurring first in Western Europe (Britain, France
and Germany in particular) leading to technological and
industrial revolution;

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 10

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and
Their Societies (cont’d)
• As a corollary to the technological and industrial revolution:
- people moving from rural settlements to larges
industrials cities,
-the development of the clock,
-trains, airplanes, ships,
- mega cities, etc.

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 11

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and
Their Societies (cont’d)

• Further into the subsequent pages of the album may be evidence

of trans-Atlantic slave trade, colonialism and independence in
Africa

• This may be followed by ICT revolution consisting of desk and lap

top computers, people communicating through the internet, cell
phones, smartphones, tablets, i-phones,
• Others are communication by Skype, videoconferencing, social
media platforms such as, facebook, whatsapp, twitter, viber, etc.

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 12

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and Their
Societies (cont’d)
• This summary of the human condition and its material
transformation indicate that humans have been on earth
for a very long period of time.

• Historians, archaeologists and anthropologists reckon that

the world took shape some five (5) billions years ago and
some 60 million years ago early primates emerged on
earth,

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 13

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and Their
Societies (cont’d)
• 10 million years ago early humans developed larger brains,

• 5 millions ago, humans having our present form emerged

and began roaming the earth’s surface ;

• About 10, 000 years humans everywhere were foragers or

hunter-gatherers.

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 14

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and
Their Societies (cont’d)

• Humans have come a long way in terms of adaptation and socio-

cultural transformation.

• Unlike other animals and primates, our ability to develop large brains,
language and culture: both non-material and material culture has
increased and improved such that we are not only able to build viable
human associations, communities and societies

• But also to develop and modernize these societies such that some
parts of humanity are now in modern technologically advanced stages
and others in varying degrees are also on the way of modernity.

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 15

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and
Their Societies (cont’d)
• From the historical photos and the associated accounts it is
clear that modernity is a recent phenomenon;

• It is apparent that modernity is the era that has brought the

greatest change to our lives compared to other earlier
civilizations

• From the theories of Auguste Comte, we can say that

humanity has moved from the theological stage to the
metaphysical and then to the positivistic or the scientific stage
Slide 16
 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and
Their Societies (cont’d)
• Some scholars see this transformation as a
movement from traditional to modern society

• Others will dub it, a movement away from the Stone

Age to Bronze Age and to the Industrial and Post-
industrial Age and now we are in the Digital and
increasingly paperless Age

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 17

 Topic One: The Evolution of Humans and
Their Societies (cont’d)
• Others see this transformation from simple to complex;

• Emile Durkheim sees the transformation for mechanical solidarity to

organic solidarity

• Ferdinand Tonnies classifies the movement as Gemeinschaft

(community) und/and Gesellschaft (Society)

• Karl Marx’s classification from primitive communism to Asiatic –

Ancient – Feudalism – Capitalism – Socialism – then to Communism
(modern communism)

Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 18

 Summary of the Session
In this session you have learnt that:
• The earth took shape several billions years ago
• Humans appeared on earth about (5) billions years ago and
• Some 60 million years ago early primates emerged on earth,
• 10 million years ago early humans developed larger brains,
• 5 millions ago, humans developed into our present forms and began
roaming the earth so that
• About 10, 000 years ago humans everywhere were foragers or hunter-
gatherers.
• Since then, we have come a long way in terms of human adaptation and
socio-cultural transformation, developing science and industries,
modern cities, and moved recently into the computer and digital age
Dr. Kodzovi Akpabli-Honu Slide 19