At present, the historical path traversed by mankind is divided into the following segments: the primitive era, the history of the Ancient World, the Middle Ages, New, Modern times. It should be noted that today among scientists who study the stages of human development, there is no consensus on periodization. Therefore, there are several special periodizations, which partially reflect the nature of the disciplines, and the general, i.e. historical.
Of the special periodizations, the most significant for science is archaeological, which is based on the differences in tools.
The stages of human development of the primitive era are determined in more than 1.5 million years. The basis for its study was the remains of ancient tools, rock paintings and burials that were discovered during archaeological excavations. Anthropology is a science that deals with the restoration of the appearance of primitive man. In this time period, the emergence of a person occurs, it ends with the emergence of statehood.
During this period, the following stages of human development are distinguished: anthropogenesis (an evolution that ended about 40 thousand years ago and led to the emergence of the species of a reasonable person) and sociogenesis (the formation of social forms of life).
The history of the ancient world begins its countdown in the period of the emergence of the first states. The periods of human development expressed in this epoch are the most mysterious. Ancient civilizations left monuments and architectural ensembles, examples of monumental art and painting, which have survived to this day. This era refers to the IV-III millennium BC. At this time, there was a split in society into the ruled and the rulers, into the have-nots and the haves, slavery appeared. The slave system reached its apogee in the period of antiquity, when the civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome rose.
Russian and Western science refers to the beginning of the Middle Ages the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, which occurred at the end of the fifth century. However, in the encyclopedia "History of Humanity", published by UNESCO, the beginning of this stage is considered the moment of the emergence of Islam, which appeared already in the seventh century.
The stages of human development in the Middle Ages are divided into three time periods: early (5th century - middle of 11th century), high (middle of 11th century - end of 14th century), late (14th-16th century).
In some sources, the civilizations of the Ancient World and the Middle Ages are not distinguished within the framework of a theoretical positionabout "stages of growth" and are seen as a traditional society based on subsistence/semi-subsistence farming.
In the period of the New Age, the formation of an industrial and capitalist civilization took place. The stages of human development at this stage are divided into several segments.
First. It originates when revolutions take place in the world aimed at overthrowing the estate system. The first of these took place in England in 1640 - 1660.
The second period came after the French Revolution (1789-1794). At this time, there is a rapid growth of colonial empires, the division of labor at the international level.
The third period begins at the end of the 19th century and is characterized by the rapid development of industrial civilization, which occurs due to the development of new territories.
Recent history and its periodization is currently controversial. However, within its framework, the following stages of human development are distinguished. The table available in school textbooks shows that this era consists of two main periods. The first one began at the end of the 19th century and affects the entire first half of the 20th century - early modern times.
The Great Crisis, power rivalry, the destruction of the colonial systems of European states, the conditions of the Cold War. Qualitative changes took place only in the second half of the 20th century, when the nature of labor activity changed with the development of industrial robots and the spread of computers. Changes also affected the international sphere, when cooperation took the place of rivalry.
