Class 6th Social Science History Chapter 2 On The Trial of the Earliest People

Class 6th Social Science History Chapter 2 On The Trial of the Earliest People

1. Complete the sentences:

1. Hunter-gatherers chose to live in caves and rock shelters because
2. Grasslands developed around……….. years ago.
3. Early people painted on the……… of caves.
4. In Hunsgi, tools were made of……….

Answer:

1. they wanted to protect themselves from wild animals and bad weather.
2. 12,000
3. walls
4. limestone

2. Look at the present-day political map of the subcontinent on page 136 of the textbook. Find out the states where Bhimbetka, Hunsgi, and Kumool are located. Would Tushar’s train have passed near any of these sites?
Answer: Bhimbetka — Madhya Pradesh
Hunsgi — Karnataka
Kumool — Andhra Pradesh
Tushar’s train would have passed near Bhimbetka, Hunsgi and Kumool, since they all lie on the possible train route from Delhi to Chennai.

3. Why did the hunter-gatherers travel from place to place? In what ways are these similar to/different from the reasons for which we travel today?
Answer:  Hunter-gatherers travelled from place to place for four basic reasons which are as follows: (also see flow-learning).

• If they stayed at one place for a long time, they would have eaten up all the available plant and animal resources. Therefore, they went to another place for more food.
• Animals move from place to place. Humans followed them as they hunted them.
• Plants and trees bear fruit in different seasons. So when season changed, people moved to another place.
• In search of water, people travelled from place to place. Water is necessary for survival.

However, nowadays we travel for different purposes, like:

1. Education. We travel to schools.
2. Work. We travel to work.
3. Business. People travel from place to place for business purposes.
4. Entertainment. We travel from one place to another to amuse and entertain ourselves, like going to a circus, a zoo or sightseeing.

4. What tools would you use today for cutting fruit? What would they be made of?
Answer:  Today, for cutting fruit, we would use modem tools like knives, which are made of iron or steel.

5. List three ways in which hunter-gatherers used fire. Would you use fire for any of these purposes today?                                                                              ,
Answer: 

(a)

1. Hunter-gatherers used fire as a source of light.
2. They used fire to cook meat or food.
3. They used fire to scare away animals also.
4. Fire keeps him or her warm.

(b) Yes, fire is used as a source to cook food including meat. We also use it to keep us warm. Some people use it for religious purposes and bum their dead bodies.

6. Make two columns in your notebook. In the left hand column, list the foods hunter-gatherers ate. In the right hand column, list some of the foods you eat. Do you notice any similarities/differences.
Answer: 

Differences between the two eating habits: Today, we largely eat processed and cooked food, whereas the early people did not cook their food. They ate everything raw.

7. If you had a natural pebble-like the ones shown on page 13 in the textbook, what would you use it for?
Answer:

1. I would have used some of these stone tools to cut meat and bone, scrape bark (from trees) and hides (animal skins), chop fruit, and roots.
2. Some may have been attached to handles of bone or wood, to make spears and arrows for hunting.
3. Other stone tools were used to chop wood, which was used as firewood,

8. List two tasks that are performed by both men and women at present. List another two that are performed only by women, and two that are performed only by men. Compare your list with that of any two of your classmates. Do you notice any similarities/differences in your lists?
Answer:  Two tasks that are performed by both men and women:
(a) Teaching                                        (b) office jobs
Two tasks that are performed by only men:
(a) Mining                                            (b) Working in a shipyard
Two tasks that are performed by only women:
(a) Nursing                                          (b) Looking after home and hearth
Compare your lists yourself.

I. Multiple Choice Questions

Choose the correct option to complete the statements given below:

(i) Traces of ash in the Kumool caves indicate
(a) rearing of animals
(b) use of fire
(c) use of stone tools
(d) use of water.

(ii) Grasslands developed in many areas around
(a) 800 years ago
(b) 2 million years ago
(c) 1,00,000 years ago
(d) 12,000 years ago.

(iii) Tools in Hunsgi were made of
(a) stone
(b) limestone
(c) wood
(d) metal.

(iv) Bhimbetka is located in the present-day
(a) Uttar Pradesh
(b) Andhra Pradesh
(c) Madhya Pradesh
(d) Kerala.

(v) Grasslands led to an increase in
(a) animals that lived in water
(b) birds
(c) human beings
(d) animals that survive on grass.

Answer:
(i) – (b)
(ii) – (d)
(iii) – (b)
(iv) – (c)
(v) – (d).

II. Fill in the Blanks

Fill in the blanks with appropriate words to complete each sentence:

1. Hunter-gatherers lived around ………….  years ago.
2. The hunter-gatherers moved from place to place on ………….
3. Techniques used for making stone tools were ……… and …………
4. The fire was used as a source of…………..
5. The climate of the world changed to…….. conditions around 12,000 years ago.
6. The Palaeolithic Age was followed by the ……… Age.
7. Tools in Hunsgi were made from ………….  which was available ……….

Answer:

1. two million
2. foot
3. stone on stone, pressure flaking
4. light
5. relatively warm
6. mesolithic
7. limestone, locally.

III. True/False
State whether these sentences are true (T) or false (P’).

1. (i) Some rivers are perennial while others are seasonal.
2. (ii) Tools of wood have survived better than tools of stone.
3. (iii) The sites where hunter-gatherers lived were close to water.
4. (iv) Hunsgi was located in the present-day Madhya Pradesh
5. (v) Man led a well-settled life by Palaeolithic Age.

Answer:

1. (i) – T
2. (ii) – F
3. (iii) – T
4. (iv) – T
5. (v) – F.

IV. Matching Skill

Match the items given in column A correctly with those given in column B.

V. Very Short Answer Type Questions

1. What did hunter-gatherers do to sustain themselves?
Answer: They hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds, gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves, stalks and eggs, in order to sustain themselves.

2. Why was hunting animals difficult for the people?
Answer: Hunting animals was difficult because there were several animals that ran faster than human beings, many were stronger.

3. What do people need while hunting animals or catching fish and birds?
Answer: People need to be alert, quick and have lots of presence of mind.

4. Collecting plant produce needs a lot of precaution. How?
Answer: One needs to find out which plants or parts of plants are edible, that is, can be eaten, as many can be poisonous. It is also necessary to find out about the seasons when the fruits ripen.

5. What is the difference between perennial and seasonal lakes and rivers?
Answer: Perennial rivers and lakes are those which bear water throughout the year while seasonal rivers and lakes have water only during a particular period, le. rainy season.

6. How was the wood used in the past?
Answer: Wood was used as firewood. It was also used to make huts and tools.

7. What were factory sites?
Answer: Factory sites were places where a stone was found and where people made tools.

8.Where are natural caves and rock shelters found?
Answer: Natural caves and rock shelters are found in the Vindhyas and the Deccan plateau.

9. What suggests that people in the past used fire?
Answer: Traces of ash have been found in the Kumool caves. This suggests that people in the past used fire.

10.Why did earlier people use fire?
Answer: They used fire to make light, to cook meat and to frighten animals.

11. Name any two grain bearing grasses.
Answer: Wheat and barley.

12. What is the special feature of the paintings found in Madhya Pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh? .
Answer: These paintings show wild animals which have been drawn with great accuracy and skill.

VI. Short Answer Type Questions 

1. How were stone tools used in the past? [V. Imp.]
Answer: Some stone tools were used to cut meat and bone, scrape bark from trees, and hides le. animal skins, chop fruit, and roots. Some were used as handles of bone or wood. Some were used to make spears and arrows for hunting. Other tools were used to cut wood.

2. What do you know about habitation-cum-factory sites?
Answer: Usually, we find blocks of stone, tools that were made and perhaps discarded because they were not perfect, and chips of waste stone left behind at factory sites. Sometimes, people lived here for longer period of time. These sites are called habitation-cum-factory sites.

3. Mention the two techniques that were used to make stone tools.
Answer: The two techniques of making stone tools were:
(i) Stone on stone technique. In this technique, the pebble from which the tool was to be made was held in one hand. Another stone, which was used as a hammer was held in the other hand. The second stone was used to strike off flakes from the first, till the required shape was obtained.

(ii) Pressure flaking. In this technique, the pebble or core was placed on a firm surface. The hammer stone was used on a piece of bone or stone that was placed on the core, to remove flakes that could be shaped into tools.

4. What do you know about the work division among men and women in the ancient past? [V. Imp.]
Answer: It is totally difficult to know about it. However, we can mention atleast two possibilities which are:

• It is likely that both men and women may have done many of the work like hunting, gathering plant produce, etc. together.
• It is also possible that some tasks were done only by women and others only by men. And again, there could have been different practices in different parts of the sub-continent.

VII.Long Answer Type Questions

1. What were the various reasons for hunter-gatherers to move from place to place? Mention in detail
Answer: Hunter-gatherers kept on moving from one place to another for the following reasons:
(i) Staying at one place for a long time would have ended up the availability of plant and animal resources.

(ii)Animals move from place to place—either in search of smaller prey, or, in the case of deer and wild cattle, in search of grass and leaves. That is why those who hunted them had to follow their movements.

(iii) Plants and trees bear fruit in different seasons. Hence, people may have moved from season to season in the hope of getting different kinds of fruits, Plants, animals and plants need water for their survival. While many rivers and lakes are perennial others are seasonal. People living on their banks would have had to go in search of water during the dry seasons, le. winter and summer.

(iv) People may have traveled to meet their kith and kin.

2.What was the impact of the change in the environment around 12,000 years ago?[V. Imp.]
Answer: Major changes in the climate of the world with a shift to relatively warm conditions were noticed around 12,000 years ago. As a result, grasslands developed in many regions. This resulted in an increase in herbivorous animals like deer, antelope, goat, sheep, and cattle. This encouraged people to herd and rear these animals. They also engaged themselves in fishing.

Several grain bearing kinds of grass such as wheat, barley, and rice also grew around this time in different parts of the sub-continent. Men, women, and children began to collect these grains to use them as their food. By the time, they also learned where these grains grew and when they ripened.