Telangana SCERT TS 6th Class Social Study Material Pdf 6th Lesson – From Gathering Food to Growing Food – The Earliest People Textbook Questions and Answers.
From Gathering Food to Growing Food – The Earliest People – TS 6th Class Social 6th Lesson Questions and Answers Telangana
Question 1.
Why early humans not wear cotton and woolen clothes ?
Answer:
The early humans not wear cotton and woolen clothes. They wore skins of animals, and leaves. Because thousands of years ago all people lived by collecting fruits, flowers, honey, wild grains and edible tubers and roots that grew naturally in the forest and also hunted birds and animal. They did not grow any crop or rear any animal.
Question 2.
What tools would you use today for cutting fruits ? What would you do if these tools were not available ?
Answer:
Today we use knives and steel tools. They are cutter, fork, etc. They are used to cut fruits. The earliest people also used tools: but there were made of stones, bones and wood. Initially large stones were given sharp edges by very careful breaking with another stone.
This gave the people a too! which enabled them to cut flesh, dig the earth for tubers and hunt animals. These weapons were used to dig soil, chop the trees for the bark, remove the skins of animals, clean the skins, stitch the clothes out of the skin, cut meat and bones, chop fruits and roots and hunt the animals easily. If the above tools are not available, it is very difficult to live comfortably.
Question 3.
Compare the tools used by the early humans with those of modern times.
Answer:
In modern times we use machines, tractors and tools made of steel, etc. The early humans also used tools: hut these were made of stones, bones and wood. Initially large stones were given sharp edges by very careful breaking with another stone. This gave the people a tool which enabled them to cut flesh, dig the earth for tubers and hunt animals. For example microliths : stone sickle, neolith; axe head fixed to a wood.
Question 4.
Why did the earliest people travel from place to place? In what ways are they similar to / different from the reasons for our travel today ?
Answer:
The earliest people used to live in small groups in the caves or under trees or rocks. They did not build houses. Actually, they led a mobile life, constantly moving from one place to another. People who regularly move from place to place are called “Nomads”. Women and children were more active in food gathering and hunting of small animals. Hunting large animals may have taken many days of tracking to distant places – this was probably done mostly by men. There are at least four reasons why hunter gatherers moved from place to place.
- In search of food
- In search of animals
- In search of seasonal kinds of plants
- In search of water.
In search of employment even today the people have to move from one place to another due to shortage of land, raw material, etc.
Question 5.
Locate the following Rock Art sites in the map of Telangana :
A) Asifabad
B) Pandavulagutta
C) Kokapet
D) Durgarn
E) Regonda
F) Ramachandrapuram
Answer:
Img-
Question 6.
List three ways in which the lives of farmers and herders in present days are different from that of the Neolithic people.
Answer: Difference of:
| The present lives of farmers and herders | The past lives of the Neolithic people |
| 1. They are the successors of neolithics in agriculture. | 1. They are the inventors of the agriculture. |
| 2. They are enjoying settled life. | 2. They enjoyed nomadic life. |
| 3. They market the surplus food. | 3. They shared the food among the group. |
| 4. They receive government help during the time of famines / natural calamities. | 4. They received no help during the time of famines / natural calamities. |
| The present lives of farmers and herders | The past lives of the Neolithic people |
Question 7.
Prepare a list of domesticated animals and agricultural products of the early humans and write a few lines about each of them.
Answer:
Domesticated animals: The animals size, temperament, diet, mating patterns and life span were factors in the desire and success in domesticating animals. They domesticated sheep, goats, pigs and cows. Agricultural products of earliest people : They selected breeding of cereal grasses which favour greater caloric returns. Their products in different areas of the world are emmer, einkorn, barley, figs, oats, banana, millets, rice, wheat, oil palm, corn, beans, squash, taro and potatoes.
Question 8.
If there was no stove and no grinding stone, how would it affect our food ?
Answer:
If there is no stove it will be late and difficult into cook food. Firewood will not be sufficient for the present population. If there is no grinding stone some kinds of foods like idli, dosa, vada and chutneys, etc., may not come into wide use.
Question 9.
Write five questions that you would like to ask an archeologist to know about the present excavations.
Answer:
- How will you opt the site for digging ?
- What safety measures do you take in collecting remains ?
- What steps do you take in exhibiting them in museum ?
- How do the remains help in studying the past ?
- Can you prove your studies on the past ?
Question 10.
There are many things in the picture given below. Which of them did not belong to the hunter – gatherers? Which things belong to both the ljunter – gatherers and the farmers ? Put different signs to distinguish them.
Answer:
1) Sign for things did not belong to hunting-gathering people – X
2) Sign for the things belonged to both – Θ
Question 11.
How can you say that the lives of earliest people became easier by domesticating animals ?
Answer:
- The domestication of animals is based on an ancient contract, with benefits on both sides.
- The domestication of animals helped them first in hunting, then in agriculture and ‘ in giving milk. They used them for transportation also.
- Domestication of animals create livestock in the form lands of the earliest people. Thus the lives of earliest people because easier.
Question 12.
Read the paragraph under the heading ‘Nomadic life’ on page no. 94 (47) and comment on it.
Answer:
Earliest people lived in groups in caves, under trees or rocks. They led mobile life. They constantly moved from one place to another place. People who regularly moved from place to place are ‘nomads’. Thus earliest people are nomads.
I. Conceptual Understanding
Question 1.
How were the early humans gathering their food?
Answer:
- Thousands of years ago all people lived by collecting fruits, flowers, honey and wild grains.
- They collected edible tubers and roots that grew naturally in the forests.
- They also hunted birds and animals.
- They did not grow any crop or rear any animal.
Question 2.
What were called Microliths ?
Answer:
Microliths : The earliest people also used tools; but these were made of stones, bones and wood. Initially large stones were given sharp edges by very careful breaking with another stone. This gave the people a tool which enabled them to cut flesh, dig the earth for tubers and hunt animals. After thousands of years they began to make fine, small pieces from hard stone.
These pieces were called ‘microliths’. They were fixed to a wooden or bone handles which then served as knives, arrows, sickles etc. These weapons were used to dig soil, chop the trees for the bark, remove the skins of animals, clean the skins, stitch the clothes out of the skin, cut meat and bones, chop fruit and roots and hunt the animals easily.
Question 3.
Who are Nomads ? Explain the Nomadic life of the earliest people.
Answer:
Nomads : People who regularly move from place to place are called Nomads.
Nomadic life :
- The earliest people used to live in small groups in the caves or under trees or rocks.
- They did not build houses.
- Actually they led a mobile life, constantly moving from one place to another.
Question 4.
What is meant by domestication ?
Answer:
Domestication : When people sow selected crops and protect them till they bear fruit or when they allow selected animals to breed and protect them for their owm use. it is called domestication.
Question 5.
What is meant by Neolithic period ?
Answer:
Neolithic period : The early farmers needed to clear forests by cutting trees and branches. They developed a new kind of stone tool which is called neolith by archaeologists. The early farmers selected the right kind of stone which was ground on rock to give it an axe like edge. This axe head was then fixed to a wooden handle and used to cut trees etc. By growing crops with the new tools the early people began a process which changed almost all aspects of their lives in a very fundamental manner. This period of early agriculture is called Neolithic period.
Question 6.
Who were the hunter-gatherers in our state?
Answer:
- Even these days several groups of people live by hunting and gathering food in different parts of the world.
- In our own state the Yanadis and Chenchus till very recently lived in this manner.
II. Reading the Text (given), Understanding and Interpretation
Question 1.
Explain the “Shared living” of early people and why were there no poor people among them.
Answer:
Women and men both participated in hunting and food gathering. Women and children were more active in food gathering and hunting of small animals. Hunting large animals may have taken many days of tracking to distant places – this was probably done mostly by men. Hunter gatherers shared the food they collected with all the members of the group.
There wasn’t much scope for storage of food as it consisted mainly of perishable things like meat, fish, fruits, leaves, tubers and small quantities of wild grains. Since they shared all the food and had free access to the resources of the forests, they were all equal and didn’t have any rich or poor among them.
Question 2.
How do people protect the animals they want to breed ?
Answer:
When they began using the plough and animal manure they did not have to go in search of new fertile lands every few years. This also meant that they had to combine farming with rearing animals which were needed for ploughing, transporting and for manuring the soil.
Like wise, people may have allowed gentle animals to come near their camps and eat grass and other left over food. They may also have protected these animals from other wild animals. In the process the herders got plenty of benefits like regular supply of meat, animal skin and milk. They later on used oxes and donkeys for carrying loads and ploughing the fields.
III. Information Skills
Observe the following table carefully :
| Microliths | Neolithic period |
| 1. After thousands of years, they began to make fine, small pieces from hard stone. These pieces were called mocroliths. | 1. The early farmers needed to clear forests by cutting trees and branches. They developed a new kind of stone tool which is called neolith by archaelogists. |
| 2. They are tiny tools. | 2. They are new stones. |
| 3. These weapons are fixed to wooden or bone handles then served as knives, arrows, sickles etc. | 3. The early farmers selected the right kind of stone which was ground on rock to give it an axe like edge. This axe head was fixed to a wooden handle and used to cut trees. |
| 4. Ex : Stone Sickle. | 4. Ex : Axe head fixed to a wood. |
1) How were microliths used ?
Answer:
After thousands of years they began to make fine, small pieces from hard stone. These pieces were called ‘microliths’. They were fixed to wooden or bone handles which then served as knifes, arrows, sickles etc. These weapons were used to dig soil, chop the trees for the bark, remove the skins of animals, clean the skins, stitch the clothes out of the skin, cut meat and bones.
2) What is the neolith called by archeologists ?
Answer:
The early farmers needed to clear forests by cutting trees and branches. They developed a new kind of stone tool which is called neolith by archaeologists.
IV. Reflection on Contemporary Issues and Questioning
Question 1.
Why could the early humans not store food for a long time ?
Answer:
Hunter-gatherers shared the food they collected with all the members of the group. There was not much scope for storage of food as it consisted mainly of perishable things like meat, fish, fruits, leaves, tubers and small quantities of wild grains. Grains and pulses which we eat today do not perish so quickly. We also have jars and tins to store them for months. But, the earliest people didn’t possess such heavy things as they had to constantly move.
Question 2.
How did the early humans use fire ?
Answer:
The discovery of fire by the early people brought about great changes in their lives. Probably they made fire by striking two stones or rubbing wood sticks.
- Hunter – gatherers used fire as a source of light
- They used fire to cook meat or food.
- They used fire to scare away animals.
- They used fire to keep them warm.
Question 3.
What do we use fire for nowadays ?
Answer:
Nowadays we use fire :
- To cook food
- To scare away animals in the forest.
- To keep warm in winter.
Question 4.
Why were there no poor people among the early humans ?
Answer:
Since the early humans shared all the food and had free access to the resources of the forests, hunter – gatherers did not have any rich or poor among them. They were all equal and treated each other equally.
VI. Appreciation and Sensitivity
Question 1.
How do you think people protect the crops they select to sow ?
Answer:
People usually select those plants and animals that give good yields and are not prone to disease etc. Seeds of such crops are selected and used for sowing in the next season. Or only animals of selected type are allowed to breed. Thus plants and animals tended by people become different from the wild ones. When people sow selected crops and protect them till they bear fruit or when they allow selected animals to breed and protect them for their own use, it is called domestication.
Project:
Find out if there are any rock painting sites near your place and visit them with your class. Write a report on it and present in your class.
Answer:
Student’s Activity
TS 6th Class Social 6th Lesson Notes – From Gathering Food to Growing Food – The Earliest People
- Hunter gatherer : Several groups of people live by hunting and gathering food in different parts of the world.
- Stone tools : The earliest people also used tools which were made of stones, bones and wood.
- Microliths : After thousands of years the earliest people began to make fine, small pieces from hard stone. These pieces were called -‘Microliths’.
- Nomads : People who regularly move from place to place are called Nomads.
- Shared living : Hunter gatherers shared the food they collected with all the members of the group.
- Domestication : When people sow selected crops and protect them till they bear fruit or when they allow selected animals to breed and protect them for their own use, it is called domestication.
- Herders : The people allowed gentle animals to come near their camps ,and eat grass and other left over food. They may also have protected these animals from other wild animals and got supply of meat, skin and milk.
- Settled life : When people began growing plants, they had to stay in the same place for a long time looking after plants, watering, weeding, driving away animals and birds.
- Neolithic : The early farmers developed a new kind of stone tool to clean forests by cutting trees and branches called neolith. This period of early agriculture is called Neolithic period.
- Archaeologist : A person who studies the cultures of the past and of periods of history by examining the remains of buildings and objects found in the ground.
- Podu Agriculture : A way of farming in some tropical countries in which farmers use an area of land until it can’t be used for growing plants any more then move to a new area of land.
Mind Mapping:
