Final answer:
Morgan's stages of development were important because they offered a model for the cultural evolution of societies based on technological progress, reflecting the ethnocentric worldview of the time that placed European societies at the top of a cultural hierarchy.
Step-by-step explanation:
Morgan's three stages of development, Savagery, Barbarism, and Civilization, were important for their time because they provided a framework for understanding the evolution of human societies from a technological standpoint. Morgan's model suggested that societal progression was driven by advancements in technology, leading to new social practices and ways of thinking. This classification system reflected the ethnocentric biases of the era, giving rise to a hierarchy where European societies were seen as the pinnacle of cultural evolution.
Early anthropologists like Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan used these stages to categorize cultures based on their perceived level of development. This categorization mirrored the Enlightenment's value of rationalism, scientism, and the perceived benefits of the Industrial Revolution. However, such models were speculative and often based on the observer's cultural biases, leading to an ethnocentric perspective that labeled non-European societies as inferior.
The idea that different societies passed through similar developmental stages on their way to becoming 'civilizations' was part of the colonial ideology that justified European colonialism and cultural imperialism. It was also through these connections and the diffusion of cultures that new technologies, languages, and social innovations like the Neolithic Revolution spread, shaping the world's diverse cultural landscapes.