its original source and show the different
classes of people engaged in its production.

[1] _Man and Culture_.

[2] See Chapter III.

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CHAPTER VI

PRIMITIVE SOCIAL LIFE

_The Character of Primitive Social Life_.--Judging from the cultures of
prehistoric man in Europe and from analogies of living races that
appear to have the same state of culture, strong inferences may be
drawn as to the nature of the beginnings of human association. The
hypothesis that man started as an individual and developed social life
through mutual aid as he came in contact with his fellows does not
cover the whole subject. It is not easy to conceive man in a state of
isolation at any period of his life, but it appears true that his early
associations were simple and limited to a few functions. The evidence
of assemblage in caves, the kind of implements used, and the drawings
on the walls of caves would appear to indicate that an early group life
existed from the time of the first human cultures. The search for food
caused men to locate at the same place. The number that could be
supplied with food from natural subsistence in a given territory must
have been small. Hence, it would appear that the early groups
consisted of small bands. They moved on if the population encroached
upon the food supply.

Also, the blood-related individuals formed the nucleus of the group.
The dependency of the child on the mother led to the first permanent
location as the seat of the home and the foundation of the family. As
the family continued to develop and became the most permanent of all
social institutions, it is easy to believe as a necessity that it had a
very early existence. It came out of savagery into barbarism and
became one of the principal bulwarks of civilization.

It may be accepted as a hypothesis that there was a time in the history
of every branch of the human race when social order was indefinite and
that out of this incoherence came by {109} degrees a complex organized
society. It was in such a rude state that the relations of individuals
to each other were not clearly defined by custom, but were temporary
and incidental. Family ties were loose and irregular, custom had not
become fixed, law was unheard of, government was unknown unless it was
a case of temporary leadership, and unity of purpose and reciprocal
social life were wanting. Indeed, it is a picture of a human horde but
little above the animal her