Ancient Society Or, Researches In The Lines Of Human Progress From Savagery, Through Barbarism To Civilization

by Lewis Henry Morgan

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Genres: Anthropology, History, Nonfiction, Sociology, Science, Archaeology, School

580 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1877

About the author

Lewis Henry Morgan was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist, and one of the greatest social scientists of the nineteenth century in the United States. He is best known for his work on kinship and social structure, his theories of social evolution, and his ethnography of the Iroquois. Due to his study of kinship, Morgan was an early proponent of the theory that the indigenous peoples of the Americas had migrated from Asia in ancient times. His social theories influenced later Leftist theorists. Morgan is the only American social theorist to be cited by Charles Darwin, Karl Marx and Sigmund Freud.

Reviews

[Dan Gorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beast of a book to read, "Ancient Society" gives fascinating insight into the late-career mind of American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan. Its argument is not persuasive in the 21st-century. My 3-star rating reflects the book's historical importance. I cannot recommend the text as literature.

Morgan believed, unlike scientific racists of his day, that all ethnicities belonged to a single human race — "monogenesis," instead of "polygenesis." He nonetheless believed in a hierarchy of civilizations. Despite his misgivings about societies in which a few people control most of the property, Morgan argues in "Ancient Society" that the Western, capitalist, monogamous lifestyle is the apex of civilization. All other societies are in various states of savagery or barbarism. God gave all people the ability to reason, but environmental factors affect how that thinking principle manifests. Due to their environment, Morgan argues, Africans and Australians are at the bottom of the civilization hierarchy; the Native Americans are either savages or barbarians, depending on the nation in question; the Aztecs were almost civilized; and the "Aryans" and "Semites" are at the top of the hierarchy, as the Greeks and Romans created civilization. Hundreds of pages explain in stultifying prose how civilization progressed toward its monogamous, Western climax. The sheer volume of raw data on marriage practices from around the world is impressive, but largely recycled from a prior Morgan book, "Systems of Consanguinity."

One must recognize the significance of the book in recent history. "Ancient Society" became a foundational text of Marxism after Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote admiringly of it. Yet the volume will appeal only to historians of anthropology and intellectual writing in America.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

not as obnoxious as Spencer, but still distinctly obnoxious. still deeply committed to scales of progress ending in European and Anglo-American civilization and to the exclusions his version of that scale allows him to make, even if he gives the Haudenosaunee credit for being intelligent. also his philosophy of history is basically a layer cake (influenced by 19th c archaeology) and lots of his empirical claims about indigenous groups around the world, especially around the Pacific, are just plain wrong. + he was into Lamarckian biology, which is fundamental to his argument about progress. slightly redeeming is the sheer amount of imaginative + theoretical work involved in his monumental (hubristic) task. + there are interesting threads in his discussion of property, as several reviewers here have noted got picked up by Marx + Engels

[Vagelis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Equal in importance to Darwin's theory and Marx's theory of surplus value.

[Charlie Bavis · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 5 out of 5]

No wonder how Engels made one of the best anthropological books, this is THE anthropology book.

[Heinrich · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. Evolução Sociocultural e Determinismo Tecnológico

Lewis Henry Morgan em "A SOCIEDADE ANTIGA" explora de forma meticulosa a teoria da evolução sociocultural. O autor sustenta que a humanidade progride por meio de estágios distintos de desenvolvimento social, sendo o estágio da selvageria, da barbárie e da civilização os principais marcos. Morgan também introduz o conceito de determinismo tecnológico, argumentando que as mudanças nas instituições sociais estão intrinsecamente ligadas ao progresso tecnológico.

II. A Família e a Propriedade

O papel da família na evolução das sociedades é um tema central do livro. Morgan examina as formas familiares em diferentes estágios da evolução social, como a família consanguínea, a família punalua e a família monogâmica. Além disso, ele discute a relação entre a família e a propriedade, demonstrando como as mudanças na estrutura familiar estão interconectadas com a evolução da propriedade privada.

III. Matriarcado e Patriarcado

A análise da posição da mulher na sociedade é abordada em "A SOCIEDADE ANTIGA." Morgan explora a transição do matriarcado para o patriarcado e os fatores que contribuíram para essa mudança. Ele fornece insights valiosos sobre como a organização social e a estrutura de poder afetam a posição das mulheres nas sociedades antigas.

IV. Parentesco e Classificação Social

O estudo do parentesco e da classificação social é uma parte fundamental da obra de Morgan. Ele apresenta sistemas de parentesco e sistemas de classificação em diferentes estágios sociais, revelando como essas estruturas influenciam a organização da sociedade e as relações interpessoais.

V. Metodologia e Etnografia

Lewis Henry Morgan adota uma abordagem etnográfica sólida em seu trabalho, realizando extensas pesquisas de campo e coletando dados de diversas culturas. Ele documenta suas observações de forma detalhada e metódica, o que contribui para a credibilidade de suas teorias.

Em síntese, "A SOCIEDADE ANTIGA," de Lewis Henry Morgan, permanece como uma obra seminal que moldou o campo da antropologia e dos estudos sociais. Através de sua análise minuciosa e abordagem científica, Morgan oferece uma visão profunda da evolução das sociedades e dos principais temas relacionados ao parentesco, família, propriedade e classificação social. Sua obra continua a ser uma referência fundamental para pesquisadores e acadêmicos interessados na compreensão das complexidades das sociedades antigas e suas implicações na cultura contemporânea.

[Animesh Mitra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Masterpiece. Must read. Marx was influenced by this book. Fundamental text on anthropology. Progress, 3 stages of progress. 1- Savagery, lower- distinction from other animals, sign language, middle- fire and fish, upper- stone age weapon, bow and arrow, 2- Barbaric, lower- pottery, middle- domestication and cultivation, domestication of animals and cultivation of plants, agriculture, upper- metelurgy, smelting of iron ore, iron weapon, armour and sword, 3- Civilization- writing, writing of phonetic letters. Each and every tribe had gone through similar stages of progress. The ten commandments of Moses, Roman twelve tables and the law of the Greek Solon are similar. The concept of private property is newer development. Private property didn’t exist in savagery and barbaric stages; all the property belongs to the gens- commune, all belong to all. Private property, monogamous family, male dominated family, male linage inheritance, slave based economy and state are simultaneous; emerged with civilization. Private property, metelurgy (iron) and writing gave the birth of civilization and state. Private property gave the birth of civilization.

[Bookshire Cat]

Chapter 1 Ethnical Periods read for a class.

[Salahuddin Hourani]

ملاحظة لي: لم اقرا الكتاب بعد -
العمارة ودلالات تغيرها وتطورها عبر الزمن مع اختلاف المراحل البشرية عبر التاريخ

[Phoenix2 · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good book with nice structure and good theories.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un libro obligado para entender el evolucionismo en las "ciencias" sociales.

[Zoe :) · Rating 1 out of 5]

My dude was quite ethnocentric, I fear.