Final answer:
Morgan's three stages of civilization — Savagery, Barbarism, and Civilization — were an influential yet flawed framework in early anthropology, focusing on technological advancement as a driver of societal change. These stages have been criticized for their ethnocentrism and are largely abandoned today.
Step-by-step explanation:
Although not currently employed in modern anthropology, Morgan's three stages of civilization development — Savagery, Barbarism, and Civilization — were significant during their time. American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan elaborated on Edward Tylor's developmental scheme, introducing a more detailed model for cultural evolution that relied heavily on technological advancement as the driving force for societal change. Morgan's stages suggested that societies evolved from primitive to advanced states, with each stage reflecting improvements in technological innovations that led to changes in social practices and ideologies.
These unilineal evolution theories have been criticized and largely abandoned due to their ethnocentric nature and inaccuracies. Prominent anthropologists like Franz Boas countered these ideas by advocating for a perspective that recognizes the unique historical trajectory of each culture, taking into account their complexities and interactions with other societies. Nonetheless, Morgan's three stages of development were influential in early anthropology and provided a foundational, albeit flawed, framework for understanding the progression of human societies throughout history.