Culture Technological Classifications
These broad classification levels exist primarily as "shorthand" for nonspecialist reference. Anthropologists, sociologists and other specialists have a vastly more nuanced matrix for classifying technological progress and capability.
Level One - Neolithic and earlier cultures
Human power only. No domesticated animals or agriculture.
Level Two - Increasing regions of Earth from 5000 B.C. to 100 A.D.
Human and animal power. Domesticated animals, agriculture. Iron-metallurgy common at this level.
Level Three - Various Earth cultures from roughly 100 A.D. to 1750
Wind and water power. Sailing ships, windmills, watermills. Large empires common at this level.
Level Four - Europe and North America from 1750 to 1950
Steam, fossil, and electrical power. Industrial civilization, heavier-than-air flight.
Level Five - Earth from roughly 1950 to World War Three
Fission and fusion power. Early spaceflight (ion drive) possible, nuclear weapons, electronics and computers.
Level Six - The Federation, Klingon Empire, Romulan Empire, and others in the TNG/DS9/VOY era
Antimatter power. Starflight, impulse and warp drives, energy weapons, teleporters common.
Level Seven - The Travelers, The Bajoran Prophets
Directed transmutation power. Although vast effects are possible, the culture may stlil depend on physical instrumentality to operate.
Level Eight - The Dowd, The Q
Total conversion power. Any amount of energy, including a single thought, can be translated into any effect without any intervening instrumentality.