NCERT is that book which has been identified as the base for all competitive exams in India and is also full of knowledge for the students of that particular class. In this article we will be discussing the important terms and points from the second chapter of History subject of class 6.
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| Hanuman STUDIES |
Chapter: 2 (From Hunting - Gathering to Growing Food)
1. Why earlier people on the move?
🔴People who lived two million years ago in subcontinent were hunters and gatherers. The name comes from the way in which they get their food, they hunted animals, caught fish and birds, gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves, stalks and eggs.
🔴These hunters and gatherers moved from place to place and there are many reasons for this.
- If they had stayed at one for a long time, they would have eaten up all the available plant and animal resources. Therefore, they would have to go elsewhere in search of food.
- Hunters had to follow the movements of the animals who moved from place to place - either in search of smaller prey, or, in case of deer and wild cattle, in search of grass and leaves.
- Plants and trees bear fruit in different seasons. So, people may have moved from season to season in search of different kinds of plants.
- People, plants and animals need water to survive. Peoples living on the banks of seasonal sources of water have had to go in search of water during the dry season.
2. How do we came to know about Hunters and Gatherers?
🔴Archaeologists have found the things which these hunters and gatherers made and used. These people made and used tools of stone, wood and bone, of which stone tools have survived best.
🔴Some of these tools were used to cut meat and bone, scrape bark from trees and hides (animal skins), chop fruits and roots. Some may have been attached to handles of bone or wood to make spears and arrows for hunting.
🔴Stone tools may also have been used for digging the ground to collect edible roots and to stitch cloths made out of animal skins.
3. Names and dates
🔴Archaeologists have given lengthy names for the time that we are studying.
🔴The earliest period is called the Palaeolithic (Palaeo: Greek word meaning old, and lithos: Greek word meaning stone). The Palaeolithic period extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. It is also divided in to the Lower, Middle and Upper Palaeolithic.
🔴The period when environmental changes started, beginning about 12,000 years ago till about 10,000 years ago is called the Mesolithic (middle stone). Stone tools found during this period are generally tiny and are called microliths. These microliths are probably stuck on to handles of bone or wood to make tools such as saws and sickles.
🔴The next stage from about 10,000 years ago is known as the Neolithic.
4. Changing environment: Beginning of farming and herding
🔴Around 12,000 years ago there was major in the climate of the world, with a shift to relatively warm conditions, which led to development of grasslands. This in turn led to an increase in the number of animals that survived on grass i.e. deer, antelope, goat, sheep and cattle.
🔴This helped people to start thinking about herding and rearing these animals. Fishing also became important. The first animal to be tamed was the wild ancestor of the dog.
🔴This was also a time when several grain bearing grasses, including wheat, barley and rice grew naturally in different parts of the subcontinent.
5. Beginning of settlements:
🔴 Seeds takes time to grow, this may be for several days, weeks, months and in some cases years. When people began to grow crops and plants, they had to stay in the same place for a long time looking after the plants, watering, weeding, driving away animals and birds - till the grain ripened.
Grains where stored for food and people started storing grains in large clay pots or wove baskets or some-times in pits dug into the ground.
🔴Neolithic sites are those from where archaeologists have found evidence of early farmers and herders. One of the most exciting findings includes remains of burnt grain.
🔴Archaeologists have found traces of huts and houses at some sites. For instance, Burzahom is a place in present-day Kashmir where people build pit-houses, which were dug into the ground. Archaeologists have also found hearths which were made for cooking food and were built both inside and outside of the house.
🔴Stone tools have been found at many sites. These tools were polished to give a fine cutting edge, and mortars and pestles used for grinding grain. Some tools were also of bones.
🔴Earthen pots have been found, sometimes decorated and were used for storing things. People began using pots for cooking food, especially grains like wheat, rice and lentils.
Besides, people also began weaving cloth, using different kinds of materials, for example cotton.
In many areas, men and women still continued to hunt and gather food, and at some places people adopted farming and herding slowly.
6. Mehrgarh (A place of Neolithic Site)
🔴Mehrgarh is located in a fertile plain, near the Bolan Pass, which is one of the most important routes into Iran. It is probably one of the places where people learnt to grow barley and wheat, and also rear sheep and goats for the first time in this area. At this site many animals bones were also found, bones of wild animals such as the deer and pig and also bones of sheep and goat.
🔴Remains of square and rectangular houses were found at this site. Each house had four and more compartments. Several burial sites have been found at Mehrgarh.
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