From Early Humans to Classes and States

Early humans: bands of hunters and gatherers

Our species, Homo sapiens, appeared in Africa about 3 lakh (300,000) years ago and spread across the world. For most of history people lived in small bands of a few dozen. They hunted animals, fished and gathered fruits, seeds and roots. They moved with the seasons, so they owned very little.

Food was shared, since a hunt might fail and nobody could store much. Studies of recent hunter-gatherer groups suggest such bands were quite equal, but we only guess about the distant past from bones, tools and cave paintings.

Tools, fire and language

Stone tools were first made millions of years ago by our early ancestors. Controlled fire (used by about a million years ago) gave warmth, protection and cooked food. Language and art helped people plan, teach and remember. People also made better tools from bone, wood and finer stone. Historians name these ages by the tools used: Palaeolithic (old stone), Mesolithic (middle) and Neolithic (new stone).

Farming and surplus

About 10,000 years ago, in several parts of the world, people began to grow crops and keep animals. They settled in villages. A good harvest gave more food than the farmers needed. This extra is called a surplus. A surplus could be stored.

Because of surplus, not everyone had to farm. Some people became potters, weavers, metal-workers, traders, priests and warriors. This is called division of labour or specialisation.

The rise of classes

Whoever controlled the stored grain and the land gained power. Wealth became unequal, and groups with different wealth and power formed. These groups are called social classes. In many early societies the top was a small group of rulers, priests and richer families. Below were officials and soldiers, then farmers and craftspeople.

In many early states there was a class at the bottom of enslaved people: persons treated as property of an owner, without the rights of others, and made to work. They might be captives from wars or people in debt. Scholars differ on how big a part slavery played in each early society, but this kind of society is often called a slave society in textbooks. Slavery was a great injustice, and many people resisted it.

The rise of states

When societies grew large and unequal, someone had to settle quarrels, plan building work, defend the land and collect a share of the harvest. A state is a ruling organisation with power over a territory. It usually has a ruler, laws, officials (who collect tax and keep records), an army, and often writing and a religion that supports the ruler.

States could build canals, granaries and walls, but they also protected the power of the rich over the poor. Early examples were the city-states of Mesopotamia, the Nile kingdom of Egypt and early states in the Indus region and China.

Try it

Use the stage slider in the 3D and say what changes at each stage. Then solve this at home: if one family grows 12 sacks of grain and eats 8, what is its surplus? If a potter needs 2 sacks a year, how many potters can that surplus feed?

Key formulas and definitions

• Surplus = food produced − food eaten
• Number of non-farmers fed = surplus ÷ food one person needs
• Chain: band → farming → surplus → specialists → classes → state

Worked examples

Common mistakes

• Saying early humans were all "primitive" in every way. They made fine tools, art and language.
• Thinking farming started everywhere at one time. It began in different places at different times.
• Mixing up surplus (spare food) with wealth in general.
• Treating slavery as natural. It was a system of force, and people resisted it.