Rig Vedic Society in India

By 1500 B.C.E. Indo-Aryan tribes had established themselves in the Punjab region  and had composed most of the hymns in Hinduism’s oldest text, the Rig-Veda. 

That text is a collection of more than 1,000 hymns addressed to various Vedic gods.The society described in the hymns of the Rig-Veda was nomadic and pastoral. 

Indo-Aryan society was divided into three classes: kings, priests, and commoners. Aryan life centered on cattle, horses, and warfare. This can be seen in the hymns’ many metaphors involving cows, in their use of cattle as a sign of wealth, and in the special energy with which they condemn those who steal or threaten to steal Aryan herds. 

Indo-Aryans protected their herds through warfare.  This was a warrior culture whose major warrior god, Indra, was shown fighting against the “enemies of the Aryans,”

Stone Age Communities in India

From before 30,000 B.C.E. and up to  10,000 B.C.E. Stone Age communities of hunters and gatherers lived on the Indian subcontinent. The earliest of these human communities are known primarily from surface finds of stone tools. 

Paleolithic peoples lived by hunting and gathering in the Soan River Valley, the Potwar plateau regions, and the Sanghao caves of northern Pakistan and in the open or in caves and rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The artifacts found at the sites include stone pebble tools, hand axes, a skull in the Narmada River Valley and several older rock paintings  at Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh.

Gender Expectations

Gender expectations are learned and culturally imposed through a variety of social mechanisms, including socialization, situational constraints, and commercialization of gender ideals. 

Socialization theorists argue that an undetermined yet significant portion of male-female differences are products of the ways in which males and females are socialized. 

The Main Attributes of State

As food-producing economies spread and became more productive, chiefdoms and eventually states developed in many parts of the world.A state is a form of social and political organization that has a formal central government and a division of society into classes.

The first states developed in Mesopotamia by 5500 chiefdoms were precursors to states with privileged and effective leaders-chiefs but lacking the sharp class divisions that characterize states.By 7000 in the Middle East there is evidence for an elite level indicating a chiefdom or a state.

Culture is Symbolic

Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to cultural learning.Anthropologist Leslie White defined culture as

dependent upon symbolling----- culture consists of tools,implements,utensils,clothing,ornaments,customs,institutions,beliefs,rituals,games,works of art,language etc.