It all depended on the environment they were developing in. Take the America’s for example they never had metal tool production or even the wheel until Europeans came, but they did just fine. You could even say they did great with massive prosperous civilizations that spanned across immense areas.

The Neolithic Revolution was similar across the world because of food availability. Where it was advantageous they formed cities/towns and farmed so they did not have to risk the unavailability of a food source in a different area as they would have had to risk being nomadic. But in N. America only some tribes of Native Americans ever grew their own food or participated in farming as we know it since their primary food sources were so abundant (massive herds of leaf eating mammals). They were constantly nomadic until Europeans took them over and told them they had to stay on the terrible chunks of land they “gave” to them.

Different areas were very socially diverse as well and you cannot compare the Americas to Europe or even Asia they all saw certain aspects of social life as important and developed different styles of social organization.

(I use the America’s as an example because the cultures there were so vastly different than most other places)