What determining factors are needed to tell the difference between primitive man and civilized man?
The term Civilization comes from the latin word 'civis' and its adjective 'civilis' To be "civilized" essentially meant being a townsman, governed by the constitution and legal statutes of that community.Roman Civil Law was gathered together into a consolidated body of the “Code Civil” in the 6th Century for Emperor Justinian (483-565 CE).
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My FeelingsVoted for by DennisP1.
Just by following those standards we are brought to the Neolithic period which was the tail end of the stone age about 8000 BC. To cereal pollins found to the west of Mesopotamia yet still in the Ganges Valley region at a site called Sanai Tal Lake dating back to 14000 BC.
At each turn though one runs into a problem here. African tribes, the aborigines of Australia and Native Amercans are all considered primitive and were even considered barbaric... are they then uncivilized or is this just modern mans self righteous prejudice speaking?
What is the difference between stone age groups living in caves or tents and feeding off the land and those living in larger groups creating more advanced structures and cultivating crops and raising livestock?
One might say the difference is, civilized man adapts their environment to suit themselves where as primitive man adapts himself to suit his environment.
My contention has always been that a civilization is one where members of a group ban together and contribute their skills to the whole for greater survival potential.
If this belief is excepted and there is evidence that even neanderthals were undoubtedly hunter gatherers and lived in primitive, to us, communities. That must lead us to the conclusion that civilization started possibly even before the ice age to where evidences of their earlier existence as they migrated from the rain forest to the dryer regions could be preserved.
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