According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, a critical novelty in human society, compared humans closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobos), is the parental role assumed by the males, which were unaware of their "father" connection.

Gerhard Lenski, a sociologist, differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication and economy:
(1) hunters and gatherers
(2) simple agricultural
(3) advanced agricultural
(4) industrial.
This is somewhat similar to the system earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and Elman Service, an integration theorist, who have produced a system of classification for societies in all human cultures based on the evolution of social inequality and the role of the state. This system of classification contains four categories:

* Hunter-gatherer bands, which are generally egalitarian.
* Tribal societies in which there are some limited instances of social rank and prestige.
* Stratified structures led by chieftains.
* Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments.
* Humanity, mankind, that upon which rest all the elements of society, including society's beliefs.

Over time, some cultures have progressed toward more-complex forms of organization and control. This cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal foodstocks to become agrarian villages. Villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities turned into city-states and nation-states.

Today, anthropologists and many social scientists vigorously oppose the notion of cultural evolution and rigid "stages" such as these. In fact, much anthropological data has suggested that complexity (civilization, population growth and density, specialization, etc.) does not always take the form of hierarchical social organization or stratification.

Also, cultural relativism as a widespread approach/ethic has largely replaced notions of "primitive," better/worse, or "progress" in relation to cultures (including their material culture/technology and social organization).