Class 6 history

DCM Group of School

Study Material

Social Science (History)

Class VI

Chapter-2 ON THE TRAIL OF THE EARLIEST PEOPLE

Q1. Match The Following

1.	Palaeolathic Age	a.	10,000 to 4,000 BC
2.	Mesolithic Age	b.	Early Village
3.	Neolithic Age	c.	Hunsgi
4.	Bhimbetka	d.	50,000 to12,000 BC
5.	Inamgaon	e.	Madhya Pradesh
6.	Palaeolithic Sites	f.	12,000 to 10,000 BC

Ans. 1(d), 2(f), 3(a), 4(e), 5(b), 6(c)

Q2.Who were hunter gatherers?

Ans. People who lived in the subcontinent as early as two million years ago were known as hunter gatherers.

Q3.What items were generally gathered by the early man?

Ans. The early man used to gather fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves, stalks and eggs.

Q4. How were the stone tools used?

Ans. The stone tools were used to cut meat, chop fruits and wood, scrape bark and hides etc.

Q5. How do we know about the factory sites of early man?

Ans. We come to know about factory sites by finding blocks of stone tools that were made or discarded and chips of waste stone left behind.

Q6. What tools would you use today for cutting fruit? What would they be made of?

Ans. Now days we use knives for cutting fruits. These are made of stainless steel with wooden or plastic handles.

Q7. Why did the people living in the caves paint the walls?

Ans. They probably painted the walls to express their feelings or to entertain themselves.

Q8. What are sites?

Ans. Sites are the places where remains of things like tools, pots, buildings etc. are found.

Q9. Why people chose to live in caves?

Ans. People chose these natural caves because they provided shelter from the rain, heat and wind.

Q10. Define Microliths.

Ans. Stone tools found during Mesolithic period are generally tiny, sharp and polished and are called microliths.

Q11. List three ways in which hunter gatherers used fire. Would you use fire for any of these purpose today?

Ans. Hunter gatherers used fire in different ways like:

1. It could provide them light in the dark.

2. It gave them heat and kept them warm when it was cold.

3. It was kept burning at the entrance of caves to scare away wild animals.

4. It was also used to cook meat. The cooked meat thus, became softer, tastier and easy to eat.

Yes, we use fire for the following purposes:

(a) To keep us warm.

(b) To cook our food.

Q12. How were stone tools made?

Ans.There may be two different techniques adopted by the hunter gatherers for making stone tools:

1.Stone on Stone- In this the core pebble from which the tool was to be made was held in one hand. Another stone, that was used as a hammer was held in the other hand. Thus, the second stone was used for striking off flakes from the first stone. This process continued till the required shape was obtained.

2. Pressure Flaking- In this the core pebble was placed on a firm surface like a rock. A piece of bone or stone was placed on the core pebble. Then, a hammer stone was used on the placed bone or stone to remove flakes so that it could be shaped into tools

Q13. Why did the hunter-gatherers travel from place to place?

Ans. The main reasons for the hunter-gatherers to move from one place to another were as follows:

1. Their long stay at one place would have finished all available plants and human resources.

2. They may have moved from place to place in search of food for their cattle.

3. They may have moved in search of seasonal fruits and food.

4. Since they needed water to survive, they would have moved in search of water especially during dry season.

Q14. How did the changing environment affect the life of the early people?

Ans. By the end of Palaeolithic period climate became warmer and dry, this affected the life of the early people in various ways.

1. The rapid development of grasslands increased the number of grass eating animals.

2. Now early man began to understand more about the grass eating animals. This may have led to the beginning of the process of the domestication of animals.

3. The vast grasslands also contained grains like wheat and barley. From this they may have learnt the life cycle of the crops which forced them to think about growing plants on their own.

4. The idea of agriculture may have led them to stay at a place permanently.

Q15. Differentiate between Palaeolithic and Mesolithic Age.

Ans.