Early man and his life BOSEM Class 6 Social Science

Chapter Name: Early man and his life
Subject: Social Science
Lesson: 9
Class: 6
Board: Board Of Secondary Education Manipur (BOSEM/BSEM)
Contents: Chapter, Questions and Answers, Important points to Remember.

The Chapter: Early Man and his life

Salma’s father puts an empty cylinder into his car to get a filled one. Salma asks her mother what will happen if a filled LPG cylinder is not available. Her mother tells her that they will use firewood.

Salma asks again how they will cook their food if no firewood is available. Her mother in a light-hearted manner tells her that like the people of the Stone Age, they will collect food and eat it raw.

Salma again asks how the people of the Stone Age lived.

Many young children like Salma ask this type of question to their parents, brothers, sisters, teachers, etc. Thus, it is necessary for one and all to know about the lives and times of the early people to get a clear picture of how people lived in their early days. One cannot answer this type of question asked by children like Salma in a single word or in a sentence.

Do you know that the human being appeared on Earth around two million years ago?

When the human species first appeared on the earth, they were quite different from modern man.

From the time when humans appeared on this earth to the present day, man has passed through many stages. One of the important stages that quickened the evolution of man was the period of the Stone Age. In the Stone Age, man used stone as tools and weapons. The period when man used stone as their tools and weapons was divided into three periods- the Old Stone Age, the Middle Stone Age, and the New Stone Age.

From place to place

From the discussion about the Tharon cave, one knows that the old Stone Age people lived in caves. They also lived in rock shelters or, on the river banks or under the leafy branches of trees.

Unlike how we eat today, the old Stone Age men did not know how to cook food. They ate raw food. They did not know how to grow crops. They did not know how to store their food. They gathered fruits, roots, and honey for their food. They also hunted animals. The old Stone Age man was also known as the food gatherer or food hunter. They, thus, moved from one place to another in search of food and shelter.

The life of the Old Stone Age is like that of the people living in place A. When they did not get adequate food to eat, water to drink, and animals to hunt, they moved to new places.

The Stone Age people used tools and weapons made of stone. They used stone tools to chop fruits and roots, cut meat and bones, and scrap bark from trees and hides of animals. They attached the stone to the handles of bones or wood to make arrows and spears. They use them to hunt their prey.

The Stone Age people made stone weapons by hammering two stones together. One stone to be used for the desired shape was hammered hard by the other one.

Rubbing stone to make fire

The people of this period also knew how to make fire. One day, when they rubbed two stones very hard to make stone tools they saw fire sparkling out of them. Thus, by accident, people of the old stone age learned how to make fire.

This legend of firemaking was also found among different communities of Manipur.

Clothing

The people of the old stone age did not even know how to make handloom clothes. They covered themselves with the hides of animals and leaves and barks of trees.

Painting

In the last chapter, Graceson told a group of young Zeliangs about the paintings on Tharon caves. Many pictures were found drawn on the caves said to be inhabited by the people of the Old Stone Age. From the picture of the cave painting of fig., one can depict the life of the people of the Old Stone Age.

In India, the sites of the Old Stone Age have been found in places like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, etc. Some important sites of the period discovered in Manipur to date are – the Tharon cave in Tamenglong, the Kangui cave in Ukhrul, and the Machi village in Chandel.

The two maps show the various sites in India and Manipur inhabited by the Stone Age people.

Case study – the Deccan

Many sites of the old Stone Age have been found in the peninsular India. The old Stone Age tools in peninsular India include hand axes, cleavers, choppers, and chopping tools made out of pebble or pebble-halves and scrappers. Some tools were regular and well-made to facilitate holding. Others as found in the Krishna basin in northern Mysore in Karnataka are beaked tools that could have been used for engraving or cutting.

Kangkhui caves

Kangkhui caves are located near kangkhui, a tangkhul village of ukhrul district of Manipur. It lies at a distance of eleven kilometres southeast of Ukhrul. O.K. Singh, excavating the caves found stone, bone tools, and animal remains.

Tharon caves.

Tharon caves are located at a Liangmei village in the Tamenglong district of Manipur. The caves were first explored by the State Archaeology Department of Manipur in 1979

Machi

Machi is located in the Chandel district in Manipur. One of the most valuable finds of machi is the pebble chopper found on a hilltop.

Hunter to the domesticator of animal

Between 10000 and 3000 years ago, a change happened in the lifestyle of the stone age. This age is known as the Mesolithic age. In this age, a major change occurred in the climatic condition of the earth. This led to the growth of grasslands in many parts of the world. It led to an increase in the number of animals that survived on the grass like cattle, deer, goats, sheep, etc.

The people began to herd and rear animals. The people of the Middle Stone Age used small stone tools known as microliths. They made spearheads and arrowheads from microliths. The people of the Middle Stone Age began to know about several grains like rice, wheat, and barley which were grown in a particular region. This helped them to harvest the food grains.

FOOD PRODUCER- Beginning of Agricultural life

By 3000 B.C. years ago, another shift occurred in the lifestyle of the Stone Age people. This age came to be known as the New Stone Age or the Neolithic period. The people began to observe how plants emerged from the place where the seeds were dropped by them. They, then, began to know the life cycle of grains, vegetables, and other types of plants. They began to throw seeds of plants and fruits they ate at some particular places. In the Stone Age, people learnt how to grow crops.

Agriculture implements

With the people of the New Stone Age developing the concept of growing food, new tools and weapons also developed. Some of them were digging axes, sticks, sickles,s and grinding stones. One important tool of the Neolithic people was the celt, a polished axe. It was made of a large piece of fine-grained stone. One end of it was sharpened to cut down the trees. It was used to cut trees to clear forests and as hoe to till the land. Sickle was another important tool of the Neolithic people.

It was made of a wooden handle into which blades of flint flakes were set. The Neolithic period also developed the grinding stone. The tools and the weapons of the New Stone Age were polished and had a greater utility.

No more place to place

The practice of cultivation means that the people had to dig the ground, throw the seeds, wait for the grains to yield, and reap them. This means that the people could no longer move from one place to another. Instead, they had to stay at one place. They started to build their house. Gradually, more and more people came to live together. This resulted in the emergence of a village.

They built their houses along the banks of rivers or lakes where water was easily available and the soil was fertile.

Pottery

The people of the New Stone Age learned the art of making vessels jars of clay and baskets of bamboo. In the beginning, they made the clay pots by hand. They then dried these pots in the sun. later, they learned to burn the pots. The burnt pots were harder than the sun-baked pots.

Wheel

One of the remarkable inventions of the New Stone Age was the invention of wheels. The use of the wheel helped the people of the New Stone Age to make better pots. They also used wheel carts to transport men and heavy things. Later, the wheel was also used in spinning cotton and wool and weaving cloth.

Clothing

The invention of the wheel also brought a change in the clothing of the people. New additions were made to the earlier clothing of animal skins and leaves. The people began to wear the cotton and woollen cloth spun by the wheel.

Sites

Look at the map of India given in the figure. The new Stone Age sites are found at Mehgarh now in Pakistan, Burzahom, and Mahagara in Kashmir.

Case study- Northwest and Northeast.

Mehgar lies along the Bolan River about 150 miles to the northwest of Mohenjodardo at the foothills of Bolan Pass. It contains six mounds with different strata of early settlements.

The oldest mound belongs to the 6th millennium B.C. It shows a large which was probably used as a sickle.

Napachik

Napachik is a small hillock near Wangu Village. It lies in the southern part of Imphal Valley. It is located on the right bank of the Manipur River which flows into the Chindwin River in Myanmar. The site was dug up through seven layers. The excavations have yielded pieces of potsherds, stone tools like choppers, flakes, broken grinding stones, etc.

Important Points To Remember

✔ The most important stage that quickened the evolution of man was the Stone Age.

✔ During the Stone Age, people used stone as tools.

✔ Three Stone Age are identified as the Old Stone Age, the Middle Stone Age, and the New Stone Age.

✔ The Old Stone Age people lived in caves, in rock shelters on river banks, or under leafy branches of trees.

✔ They did not know how to cook food, so, they ate raw food.

✔ They did not grow food, so, they gathered fruits, roots, and honey for food.

✔ The Old Stone Age man is also known as a food gatherer or food hunter.

✔ The Old Stone Age discovered fire.

✔ They used stone tools to chop fruits and roots, cut meat and bone, and scrap bark from trees and hides of animals.

✔ The people of the Old Stone Age covered themselves with the hides of animals and leaves and barks of trees. They were nomadic people.

✔ The Middle Stone Age is also known as the Mesolithic Age. They used stone tools known as microliths. During this time people began to hear and rear animals.

✔ In the New Stone Age, people knew the life cycle of plants; Thus, they started cultivation. For agriculture, they developed new tools and weapons One important tool of this age was the Celt, a polished axe.

✔ During the New Stone Age, people invented the wheel.

✔ The people began to wear cotton and woollen clothes spun by the wheel. They built houses and had a settled life.

BOSEM Solutions for Class 6 Social Science Chapter 9

Q1. Why did the Stone Age people eat raw food?

Ans: The old Stone Age people ate raw food because they did not know how to cook food.

Q2. What finding at Machi confirms the existence of Stone Age man in Manipur?

Ans: The finding of the pebble chopper at Machi confirms the existence of the Stone Age man in Manipur.

Q3. Why didn’t the New Stone Age man move from place to place?

Ans: The new Stone Age man didn’t move from place to place because they started cultivation and led a settled life.

Q4 Why did the Old Stone Age people move from place to place?

Ans: The Old Stone Age people did not know how to grow crops. They did not know how to store their food. They gathered fruits, roots, and honey for their food. They also hunted animals. Therefore, they used to move from one place to another in search of food.

Q5. What differences do you find regarding the clothes of the people of the Old Stone Age and that of the modern man?

Ans: The people of the Old Stone Age did not even know how to make handloom clothes. They covered themselves with the hides of animals and leaves and bark of trees whereas modern man can make different types of clothes and cover themselves with them.

Q6. How did the New Stone Age man become agriculturist?

Ans: The people of the New Stone Age began to observe how plants emerged from the place where the seeds were dropped by them. They then began to know the life cycle of grains, vegetables, and other types of plants. They began to throw seeds of plants and fruits they are at some places. Thus the Stone Age people learned how to grow crops and ultimately became agriculturists.

Q7. Write about the lifestyle of the Old Stone Age people regarding their tools, paintings, and clothing.

Ans:

Tools: The Stone Age people used tools and weapons made of stone to chop fruits and roots, cut meat and bones, and crap bark from trees and hides of animals. They attached stone to handles of bone or wood to make arrows or spears. They used them to hunt their prey.

Painting: The Stone Age people drew on the wall of caves showing the life of the people during their times.

Clothing: The people of the Old Stone Age covered themselves with the hides of animals and leaves and bark of trees.

Q8. Explain the life of the people that lived from 10,000 BC to 8000 BC.

Ans: The period of 10,000 BC to 8,000 BC belonged to the Middle Stone Age. The people of this period began to herd and rear animals. They domesticated dogs, goats, and sheep. They used small stone tools known as microliths from which spearheads and arrowheads could be made. They began to know about several grains like rice, wheat, and barley. It helped them to harvest the food grains.

Extra Question and Answers

Q1. Name the important Stage that quickened the evolution Of man.

Ans: The important stage that quickened the evolution of man was the Stone Age.

Q2. How many Stone Age can divided?

Ans: The Stone Age can be divided into three, they are

The Old Stone Age
The Middle Stone Age
The New Stone Age.

Q3. How did the Old Stone Age men discover fire?

Ans: One day, when they rubbed two stones very hard to make stone tools they saw a fire sparking out from it. Thus, accidentally, the people of the Old Stone Age discovered fire.

Q4. Where are Kangkhui Caves?

Ans: Kangkhui Caves are located near Kangkhui, a Tangkhul Village of Ukhrul District of Manipur.

Q5. Where are Tharon Caves located? When did it was first explored?

Ans: Tharon Caves are located at Liangmei Village in the Tamenglong District of Manipur. It was first explored by the State Archaeology Department of Manipur in 1979.

Q6. Name the most valuable finds of Machi.

Ans: The most valuable finds of Machi is the pebble chopper (tool) found on a hilltop.

Q7. Name one important tool of the Neolithic people.

Ans: One important tool of the Neolithic people was the Celt, a polished axe.

Q8. Name the remarkable invention of the New Stone Age.

Ans: One remarkable invention of the New Stone Age was the invention of the wheel.

Q9. Name the Scientific Term of the Old Stone Age, the Middle Stone Age, and the Stone Age.

Ans: The Scientific Term of the Old Stone Age is the Paleolithic Period, the Middle Stone Age is the Mesolithic Period and the New Stone Age is the Neolithic Period.

Q10. What brought a change in the clothing of the Stone Age?

Ans: The invention of the Wheel brought a change in the clothing of the New Stone Age.