ABSTRACT
Civilization, as defined by many anthropologists, is the most complex stage in the evolution of human culture. It is a stage at which symbolic behavior achieves most dramatic form in such activities as writing and art—and in which large parts of the human population are concentrated in communities or states. Characteristically, a civilization organizes the population into distinct groups based on a division of labor. These groups include not only subsistence raisers (farmers, herders) but also artisans or laborers in specialized crafts (metallurgy, weaving, goldsmithing, brickmaking, pottery) whose products are used by the larger community. Common to most civilizations are the groups (bureaucrats, soldiers, rulers) dependent on but controlling the producers of subsistence and artifacts. Religion is often pantheistic, manifested in rituals, specialized buildings, temples, temple servants. In some polities the rulers have a special relationship to the deity or deities (god-kings, priest-kings).
