Regardless of the attitude of scholars of one time or another towards the division of the entire historical process, few people today generally doubt that the primitive communal system was the initial stage in the formation of society. This period covered a fairly extensive time period. It began with the very appearance of people on Earth and continued until the formation of the first state structures and class groups.
Man and society
Any society is to a certain extent an integral organism. This system is distinguished by one or another level of regulation, organization and ordering of interactions within it. This suggests that any form of social structure presupposes the existence of a certain managerial structure (social power). In addition, characteristic is the process of regulating human behavior through certain rules and norms. Primitive society has existed for more than a million years. It was the longest historical stage.
Society and Management
From the moment society emerges, the need immediately arises for establishing governance. During the primitive system, each member of the society had its own interests, without coordination with which society could not exist. This is due to the fact that they acted as the decisive personality regulator. Man and society cannot exist separately from each other. Ensuring normal life, as well as the progressive development of social interactions, must be combined with personal interests. In this case, society will strive to achieve the common good. However, it should be noted that the combination is possible with a combination of individual and social benefits. This combination is achieved mainly due to the presence in society of the rules of conduct and power, enforcing and ensuring these standards. Depending on who owns the leading role in governance, patriarchy, matriarchy and equality are formed. In the second case, power is concentrated in the hands of women. One of the characteristic features of the earliest system was precisely matriarchy. What kind of system is this? We will analyze further.
Definition
So matriarchy - what is it? The concept itself has Greek roots. Literally translated as "the dominance of the mother." Another name for this power is gynecocracy. As already mentioned, the history of matriarchy goes into the distant past. This concept is used in determining the type of government that was formed exclusively from women or in which it was their dominant role. How did this term “matriarchy” come about? What did this domination give women?
The emergence of a hypothesis
The hypothesis of the existence of gynecocracy is associated with such researchers as Morgan, Bachofen, Lafito. In Soviet archeology, history, anthropology, ethnography, the idea of the existence of matriarchy was not at all questioned for a very long time. But subsequent studies confirmed the hypothesis of a matrix-centered society in the very early stages of the agricultural era. Most experts agree, touching upon the concept of “matriarchy”, that this is the structure within which women have not simply gained power. Their dominance, social recognition began to exceed the authority and authority of men. Some authors, meanwhile, refute the fact of the existence of at least one society in which the dominance of women for a long period would be obvious. While others find confirmation that "modern matriarchy" is still taking place. What are the reasons for the emergence of this social system?
How did matriarchy come about?
What is this structure, we found out. Now you should understand what factors contributed to the emergence of this system. Some researchers, including opponents of the hypothesis of the existence of such a stage in the formation of society, nevertheless admit that some increase in the status of women in reality was often noted at the initial stages of the formation of a culture of agriculture. According to several authors, "gardening", hoe cultivation of the soil went from gathering. And this type of activity, in turn, was considered a typically female occupation. Over time, the importance of agriculture has increased. And along with this, the role of women in society has intensified. Subsequently, arable soil cultivation replaced the hoe. Along with this, the role of women has decreased. Matriarchy in primitive society could exist in different forms. However, regardless of this, the structure had its own characteristics. It was they who made it possible to distinguish it from others.
System features
There are several features in the presence of which we can talk about a matriarchal society: matrilinearity and matrilocality. Equally important is such a sign as avunculism. This is such a family system in which the role of the head belongs to the maternal uncle. In some cases, as a feature of a society dominated by a woman, it is polyandry, a guest or a group marriage. Matriarchy in the family is also manifested by such an indisputable feature as maternal law. It clearly acts upon divorce. In this case, the children remain with the mother or in her family. In addition, the distribution and inheritance of property is also transmitted through the female line. These are the main features that distinguish matriarchy and patriarchy.
However, it cannot be said that men do not have privileges and rights. They can live with their maternal sisters and their children. In this case, single-breasted sisters and brothers will be considered relatives. In general, we can say that the family is formed not around the father, but around the mother. But for all its difference, matriarchy and patriarchy have much in common. For example, men, regardless of living conditions, perform the same tasks. In particular, their functions include providing protection, resolving complex issues, raising children.
Matrilocal structure
Society in this case totaled about two hundred or three hundred people. All of them were close relatives on the female side. Inside such a generic group, there are many small structures. They usually consist of a mother, her children, grandchildren. Of these, in fact, a clan is formed that collectively owns communal land. At the head of this whole structure is the oldest woman, and in some cases, her bloody uterine brother. Land is considered collective property. The rest of the property belongs to women. It is inherited by daughters from the mother. As a rule, inside a kind of marriage is prohibited - in order to avoid incest. In this regard, such a structure was in close relations with another group. Between them there was an exchange of brides and grooms.
Gender division
This option for the existence of society presupposed the formation of two groups within the same genus. In one, only men lived, and in the other, respectively, women. Each subsystem had its own leader. Both groups were characterized by autonomy. It should be said that in those matriarchal systems in which the formation of the religious picture was influenced by paganism, female deities prevailed, headed by the great Mother Goddess. Shaktism, one of the earliest areas of Hinduism, is the cult of Astarte, the goddess of ancient Mesopotamia. Over time, matriarchy was replaced by patriarchy. In this regard, the female pantheon of deities was replaced by the male. The goddesses began to lose their cult and religious significance, turning into secondary characters of ancient religious mythology. As a result, the throne of the Mother Goddess passes to God the Father. It should be noted that the matriarchal structure of society was found at different times everywhere in almost all parts of the world, among different nationalities living in Africa, Asia, Europe, America (both South and North).
Ancient sources
Ancient Greek myths about the existence of Amazons can be attributed to the earliest information about matriarchal societies. For a long period, it was believed that these legends are an invention of ancient authors. But recently, the fact of the existence of societies of militant women who lived without husbands and raised their daughters in a military spirit was nevertheless proved.
Archaeologists have discovered burial mounds. Swords, arrows, bows, and precious weapons were laid in the graves of noble women. This directly indicated that they were engaged in military craft. In the Voronezh region in 1998, six such graves were found. They buried women aged 20 to 25 years (it should be said that the average life expectancy at that time was no more than forty years). All the Amazons found were of medium height and modern physique. In the graves, in addition to weapons, details of the spindle, precious earrings, a crest of bone with the image of a cheetah were found. Almost every grave had a silver or bronze mirror. Judging by how their femurs were deformed, it can be concluded that women rode horses a lot.
In many graves, male remains are also found. The analysis of the available genetic material made it possible to establish the gender of the nomads that were found in the Volga mounds. During one excavation, more than a hundred arrowheads were found in a female burial. For many reasons, the researchers concluded that a very noble woman was buried here. All this suggests that the warrior girls went alongside men in battle, and in some cases, maybe they themselves were commanders or queens, playing the role of commanders.
Strong matriarchal customs were present in the governance structure of the Massagetian peoples. The epic Karakalpak poem “Forty Girls” (“Kirk Kyz”) is considered to be sufficiently convincing evidence of the significance of the role of women in the life of tribes. It tells about the many exploits of warrior girls. It should be said that the motif of the female hero is traced in the epos of many nationalities. However, the plot of the warrior squad is present in Central Asia exclusively among the Karakalpaks. It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that the features of a woman warrior can be traced not only in poems and legends, but also in the ritual costumes of the bride. Until the very beginning of the 20th century, the Karakalpaks maintained rituals and traditions dating back to the ancient layer of their development, which many researchers associate with matriarchy.
Research
Gita Gotner-Abendort in his works defines the concept of matriarchy quite broadly. The author presented one of her books as "a study of societies formed outside the principles of patriarchy." In other words, Gotner-Abendort defines the matriarchal system as a society in which male dominance by gender is minimized or completely absent. These findings confirm the excavations of archaeologists on the island of Sumatra and the results of studies of the life of the Minangkabau tribe, which preserved the traditions and cult of the mother clan system. It should be said that in this case, within the tribal management system, the dominant role belonged exclusively to the woman. Men, in fact, had no rights and were considered "newcomers." A slightly different situation developed in the Moso tribe living in the province of Sichuan. The tribe has preserved the traditional matriarchal system. Despite the dominant role of women, men perform no less important tasks: they pray for well-being and are responsible for rituals. And their voice when making important decisions and discussing tribal issues is far from the last.
The power of women today
Matriarchy in the modern world has survived only in some areas of Southeast and South Asia, Tibet, Africa. At the same time, it must be said that even in these structures, the dominance of women is considered relative today. According to such a system, for example, the Ranathari people living in Nepal and India, Garo, Khashi, Minangkbau and others live. In these tribes, along with the high status of women, polyandry also takes place. Certain features of the true matriarchy have been preserved among the Tuaregs. Here matrilocality and matrilinearity are observed. In addition, women are entitled to take part in solving social tribal issues. Tuaregs still have a clear distinction between male and female letters.
Conclusion
It is believed that matriarchy is a reflection of a rather low level of development of society. In contrast, society appears, where the dominant role belongs to the man. It is believed that patriarchy is a more progressive type of development of social structure. However, at the same time, many modern systems dominated by men continue to be in a state of savagery and lack of information. They are infinitely distant from the achievements of the modern world, civilization. These peoples still live in huts and caves. Therefore, to say that society has moved from matriarchy to humanity is not entirely true and correct. The leadership of men in the social structure does not mean at all that the system has the ability to develop culturally, technically or scientifically. At the same time, one cannot fail to say about the role of women in public administration. For example, the monarchy in Russia can be considered indicative. As you know, power was inherited, and quite often the reign passed to women. In these periods, according to many researchers, matriarchy in Russia was clearly manifested. Although, undoubtedly, many male rulers deserve deep respect.