NCERT Class 6 History Chapter 2 - On The Trial of the Earliest People

Chapter 2 - On The Trial of the Earliest People

Question 1: Complete the sentences:
a) Hunter-gatherers chose to live in caves and rock shelters because _________________.
b) Grasslands developed around _______________ years ago.
c) Early people painted on the __________________ of caves.
d) In Hunsgi, tools were made of _____________.
Answer:
a) Hunter-gatherers chose to live in caves and rock shelters because they wanted to protect themselves from wild animals and bad weather.
b) Grasslands developed around 12000 years ago.
c) Early people painted on the walls of caves.
d) In Hunsgi, tools were made of limestone.

Question 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, as they all lie on the possible train route from Delhi to Chennai.

Question 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:
• If hunter-gatherers had stayed at one place for a long time, they would have eaten up all the available plant and animal resources. Therefore, they would have had to go elsewhere in search of food.
• 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.
• 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. Water is found in lakes, streams and rivers. While many rivers and lakes are perennial (with water throughout the year) others are seasonal. People living on their banks would have had to go in search of water during the dry seasons (winter and summer).
• Nowadays we travel for different purposes such as Education, Work, Business, and sometimes entertainment.

Question 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.

Question 5: List three ways in which hunter-gatherers used fire. Would you use fire for any of these purposes today?
Answer:
Fire could have been used for many things:
• as a source of light
• to roast meat
• to scare away animals.
Yes, we use fire even today for different purposes such as to cook the food and to keep us warm.

Question 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:
Food eaten by early man - Fruits, nuts, roots, seeds, leaves, eggs etc
Food eaten by modern man - Processed food like bread, pizza, ice-cream and unprocessed food like fruits, nuts etc.
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.

Question 7: If you had a natural pebble-like the ones shown on page 13 in the textbook, what would you use it for?
Answer: We can use some of these stone tools to cut meat and bone, scrape bark (from trees) and hides (animal skins), chop fruit, and roots. Some may have been attached to handles of bone or wood, to make spears and arrows for hunting. Other stone tools were used to chop wood, which was used as firewood.

Question 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:
→ Teaching
→ Office jobs
• Two tasks that are performed by only men:
→ Mining
→ Working in a shipyard
Two tasks that are performed by only women:
→ Nursing
→ Looking after home and hearth