Yes and no.
Some stages of progress are inevitable. For instance:
1. You don't use tools at all.
2. You make tools from things which are just lying about, like sticks and stones for weapons or lumps of clay for a cup.
3. You figure out that flint is a better stone for tools than quartzite is, so you starting digging flint out of the ground. Hurrah, you've invented mining.
4. You figure out that clay heated in a fire is harder and lasts longer than the sun-dried stuff. Hurrah, you've invented pottery.
On the other hand, the environment of your alien species is going to be a big factor. Dolphins and octopuses, for instance, are never going to invent pottery, because they live underwater and thus can't do the simplest version (firing pots in a bonfire) to kickstart that whole line of technology.
So anywhere the chemistry doesn't or can't work the way ours does will not be able to duplicate some of our achievements (fire won't burn underwater). Or they may discover something earlier in their development, For instance fires burn hotter and longer in high oxygen atmospheres, so observing what heat does to things may be a higher priority for them, and they invent smelting or kilns quicker than we did.
The environment includes the other creatures you share the planet with. If you have no equivalent of cattle and horses, you don't invent the plough, the stagecoach or horse-drawn artillery. 335
Animal power was a major factor in many of Earth's civilisations and technological developments.
Next, there is the anatomy and physiology of your aliens themselves. For instance, if they have wings and can fly (and obey the laws of physics), they will be severely restricted in how much they can carry and still take off. A bird-alien can't cover itself in chainmail or platemail unless it wants to be stuck on the ground. Bird-aliens may therefore neglect aspects of metallurgy in favour of trying to create tough but light textiles to act as armour.
If they are carnivores, they are not going to invent horticulture or arable farming early like we did. They'll probably invent pastoralism (herding animals) pretty quickly, but it may be a long time before they decide to start growing fodder for their domestic animals.
And if they are not growing plants in their equivalent of the Stone Age, then they are not going to kickstart a whole bunch of other industries - anything which relies on plant fibres or plant oils, for instance. So they might invent knitting, wool weaving and felt making because they keep sheep, but they won't have canvas for sailcloth & tents or linen for clothes, because they never grew flax for edible seeds and oil and thus never figured out its other properties.
Finally, their psychology. If they are a truly territorial species, by which mean territoriality in the biological sense of the word they don't travel and they don't invent trade. They stick within their territory boundaries and react with violence when strangers turn up. Territories are small, globally speaking. A territory might be the size of farm or small national park, but it is never going to be the size of a country. The aliens can't invent any technological development which relies on resources outside their territory. So they can't have a bronze age unless they've got both copper and tin on their particular patch of land. 197