Morgan believed (1877) that all cultures passed through these stages of development, although some became "stuck" in a stage. A simpler explanation is that these 'stages' are levels of understanding achieved by a civilisation.
Level Of Understanding | Characteristic | |
Civilisation | Alphabet and writing | |
---|---|---|
Barbarism | Upper | Iron tools |
Middle | Domestication of plants and animals | |
Lower | Pottery | |
Savagery | Upper | Bow and arrow |
Middle | Fish subsistence and fire | |
Lower | Fruit and nut subsistence |