Introduction
Lewis Henry Morgan, a foundational figure of 19th-century Classical Evolutionism, provided one of the first systematic theoretical syntheses of cultural evolution using the comparative method. His pioneering fieldwork among the Iroquois and extensive comparative analysis laid the institutional bedrock for kinship studies and structural anthropology.
1. Evolutionary Scheme of Ethnic Periods
In his seminal work Ancient Society (1877), Morgan propounded a unilineal evolutionary scheme driven by advances in the 'arts of subsistence' and technological milestones:
- Savagery: Subdivided into Lower Savagery (from the infancy of the human race to the discovery of fire and fish subsistence), Middle Savagery (fire and fishing to the invention of the bow and arrow), and Upper Savagery (bow and arrow to the invention of pottery).
- Barbarism: Subdivided into Lower Barbarism (invention of pottery to the domestication of animals in the Old World and maize cultivation with irrigation in the New World), Middle Barbarism (domestication/agriculture to the smelting of iron ore), and Upper Barbarism (iron tools to the invention of a phonetic alphabet and writing).
- Civilization: Commences with the phonetic alphabet and the use of writing, extending to modern industrial society.
2. Kinship Systems and Terminology
In Systems of Consanguinity and Affinity of the Human Family (1871), Morgan established kinship as a core domain of anthropological inquiry, categorizing systems into two broad types:
- Classificatory System: Merges lineal and collateral relatives under a single kinship term (e.g., using the same term for father and father's brother). Morgan associated this system with early, collective social organizations.
- Descriptive System: Distinguishes direct lineal relatives from collateral relatives (e.g., distinct terms for father vs. uncle). Morgan argued that descriptive terminology evolved alongside the emergence of private property, monogamy, and patrilineal inheritance.
3. Evolution of Family, Marriage, and Political Organization
- Evolution of the Family: Morgan hypothesized a progressive sequence from primitive promiscuity toward individual pairing: Consanguine family (incestuous communal marriage within a generation), Punaluan family (exclusion of siblings from mating groups), Syndyasmian family (pairing without exclusive cohabitation), Patriarchal family (authority of a male head), culminating in the modern Monogamian family.
- Evolution of Polity: Outlined a structural shift from Societas (kinship-based social organization, structured around gentes, phratries, and tribes) to Civitas (political organization based on defined territory, property relations, and state machinery).
Critical Evaluation
- Conjectural History: Franz Boas and historical particularists criticized Morgan's unilineal stages as speculative arm-chair evolutionism lacking rigorous empirical verification across diverse cultures.
- Kinship Dichotomy: A. L. Kroeber demonstrated that no kinship system is entirely classificatory or descriptive, viewing kinship terms primarily as linguistic and psychological phenomena rather than direct reflections of historical social reality.
Conclusion
Despite criticisms of unilineal rigidity and ethnocentrism, Morgan moved anthropology from an era of anecdotal curiosities to structured scientific comparison. His conceptualization of the connection between property, technology, and social institutions remains deeply influential, notably forming the ethnographic backbone for Friedrich Engels's classic treatise on private property, the family, and the state.