Hinglish

The Beginnings of Human History

Class 6 Social Science · Chapter 4: Timeline and Sources of History · NCERT Exploring Society: India and Beyond section 4.4

Learn

Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have walked the Earth for about 3 lakh (300,000) years. That sounds like a very long time, but it is only a tiny fraction of the Earth's history.

Early humans faced many challenges from nature, so they lived in bands or groups to help each other. They were hunter-gatherers: they hunted animals and collected edible plants, fruits, roots and honey. They lived in temporary camps, rock shelters and caves, and moved with the seasons.

They used fire, and made better tools: stone axes, blades and arrowheads. They spoke languages that are now lost. In time they made simple ornaments, such as beads of stone or shell and pendants of animal teeth, and sometimes exchanged them with other groups.

Their life can be seen in rock paintings in hundreds of caves around the world. At Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh, rock shelters have paintings showing animals, hunting and dancing. Early people also seem to have had beliefs about nature.

Explore: what did early humans have?

  1. Sort each card.

Remember

  • Modern humans have lived for about 3 lakh years; early humans were hunter-gatherers living in groups.
  • They used fire, made stone tools and ornaments, and painted on rocks, as at Bhimbetka.

Quick check

How did early humans get their food?

  1. By hunting and gathering
  2. By buying it in shops
  3. By ordering online
  4. From factories
Answer

By hunting and gathering. They were hunter-gatherers who moved with the seasons.

Think about it

Rock paintings show some people hunting and others dancing. Can we be sure who did each job?

One answer

Not fully. Paintings give limited information. Women may also have hunted or painted, and men may have cooked or cared for children; we should not assume roles were fixed.

Practice

Practise with fresh questions at three levels (easy, medium, hard), some answered hands-on, with hints and worked answers. Get 4 of your last 5 right to finish the topic.