在考古学视野下,人类的进步首先表现为物质文化的不断创新。如汤姆逊所揭示的石器、铜器、铁器的三阶段生产工具进步律,便是对人类物质文化不断创新的规律性总结。事实上,人类的这种工具进步律在细节上表现得更为复杂,而且伴随着工具进步的还有艺术和陶器的发明,建筑、村落乃至都市的创造,宗教、文字的诞生等文化成就。考古学证明,大约300万年前,地球上是没有任何“物质文化”的,所有的物质文化都是由人类从无到有逐步创造出来的。换句话说,地球上每一种新的物质文 In archeology, human progress first manifests itself in the constant innovation of material culture. As Thomson revealed stone, bronze, iron three-stage production tools progress law, that is, the constant innovation of human material and cultural summary. In fact, the progress of this kind of instrument of human beings is more complicated in details, and the cultural achievements such as the invention of art and pottery, the creation of villages, even urban areas, and the birth of religion and writing accompany the improvement of the instruments. Archeology proves that about 300 million years ago, there was no “material culture” on the earth and all the material cultures were gradually created by humans from scratch. In other words, every new type of material on Earth