Unilinear Evolutionism
Anthropological Theory
IB Anthropology
UWC Costa Rica
Key Theorists
Sir Edward Burnett Tyler (18321917)
Lewis Henry Morgan
(1818-1881)
‘Ancient Society’ – Morgan (1877)
• Example of 19th century evolutionism
applied to society
• Assumes human society evolved through
a series of stages – savagery, barbarism
and civilization
• Divided savagery and barbarism into three
distinct sub-stages
Savagery
• Lower savagery: humans exist through
subsistence based on fruit and nuts
• Middle savagery: people start fishing and
gain control over fire
• Upper savagery: invention of bow and
arrow
Barbarism
• Lower barbarism: humans start making
pottery
• Middle barbarism: domestication of
plants and animals (Old World) and
irrigated agriculture (Americas)
• Upper barbarism: iron smelting and use
of iron tools
Civilization
• Invention of writing
Unilinear Evolutionism
• Assumes one line along which all societies
evolved
• E.g. any society in upper barbarism had to
include in its history, in order, periods of
lower, middle and upper savagery, and then
lower and middle barbarism
• Morgan: societies of the time time could be
placed into various stages. Some had not
advanced beyond upper savagery. Some
were at middle barbarism and others had
reached civilization
Criticisms of Morgan’s Unilinear
Evolutionism
• Used loaded terms such as ‘savagery’ and
‘barbarism’
• Many writers dispute the criteria used for
each stage of evolution
• Morgan is incorrect to assume societies
can only follow one evolutionary path. In
practice, societies follow multiple
developmental paths
‘Primitive Culture – Tylor (1871)
• Takes evolutionary approach to
anthropology of religion
• Proposed unilinear path – from animism,
through polytheism and monotheism to
science
• Tylor – religion would retreat when science
provided better answers
Survivals
• Both Tylor and Morgan interested in
survivals – practices that survive in
contemporary societies from earlier
evolutionary stages
• E.g. belief in ghosts today represents
survival from stage of animism
• Survivals taken as evidence that society
had passed through earlier evolutionary
stages