During the Paleolithic and Mesolithic era, mankind led the so-called appropriating economy. In that distant time, when the number of mankind and its needs were not as great as they are now, the slogan "take everything from nature!" was absolutely correct and fair.
The very essence of the appropriating economy was that the ancient man used everything that nature could provide him - that is, appropriated its fruits. There are three forms of appropriative farming: gathering, hunting and fishing. Despite the fact that, in accordance with Darwin's teachings, gathering and hunting were inherited by ancient people from their ancestors and the animal world, it must be borne in mind that there was never a pure appropriation of natural resources by ancient people. After all, even at the earliest stage of his development, he had to invent tools that did not exist in the world around him. For example, the first remains of homo habilis ("a man of skill") were found in the Oldoway Gorge in East Africa. These people knew how to split stones in a special way, using the resulting sharp tools to dismember carcasses.
A man of the late Paleolithic already led a much more diverse appropriating economy, using about 20 objects in his work. He even had needles for making simple clothes from skins. The progress of the ancient people was gaining momentum, and over a short period of time by historical standards, the structure of an appropriating economy was formed.
Scientists consider its main features:
- collective production;
- community management of the economy, characterized by egalitarian appropriation;
- equal dependence of people on each other and on the natural cycle;
- the predominant use of stone tools;
- technical progress developing at a slow pace;
- low population density;
- division of labor by gender and age.
Elements of an appropriating economy have been present in the life of various tribes and peoples for a very long time. So, for example, the Eastern Slavs moved on to the next phase of management, called producing, only around the 5th millennium BC.
