From Gathering to Growing Food - Revision Notes
CBSE Class 06 Social Science
Revision Notes
Chapter – 3 History
From Gathering to Growing Food
The new stone age started a new era in history.
After leading a nomadic life for many years, man around 10,000 years ago began to lead a settled life.
The Beginning of Food Produce:
(i) As climate of the world changed man observed several things - areas where edible plants were found, how seeds broke off stalks, fell on the ground and how new plants sprouted from them.
(ii) Man began looking after plants and protecting them from birds and animals so that they could grow and seeds could ripen..
(iii) The first crops to be grown were cereal and barley.
(iv) This is how by use of sickle men became food producers or farmers.
(v) Agriculture changed the life of man. They started leading a settled life.
Men as Herders:
(i) People began herding animals and then tame animals by leaving food for them near their shelters.
(ii) Humans began to tame or domesticate animals like dog, horse, pig, goat, donkey, sheep, etc.
(iii) The first animal to be tamed was dog.
(iv) Animals provided milk, meat and even carried burden on their back.People also protected these animals from attacks by other wild animals
First farmers and herders:
(i) From the sites of Burzahom,Daojali Hading,Koldihwa,Mehrgarh and many more,the evidences of early farmers and herders have been found by the archaeologists.
(ii) From such sites ,the remains of burnt grains have been recovered and the bones of different animals have been found.
Finding of tools:
(i) Stone tools have been found from many sites.
(ii) Many of these are different from Palaeolithic tools and so they are called Neolithic.
(iii) These include tools that are polished to give a fine cutting edge,and mortars and pestles used for grinding grain and other plant produce.
Humans as Inventors of Wheel:
(i) The revolution in early man’s life came with the invention of wheel.
(ii) Wheel transformed man’s life.
(iii) Travelling and carrying heavy objects from one place to another place became faster.
How was Invention of Pottery Important:
(i) Man learnt to make clay pottery shaped by hand and baked in fire.
(ii) Potter’s wheel helped them to make pots of different shapes and sizes.
(iii) Various kinds of earthen pots have also been found which were some times decorated and were used for storing things.
(iv) This was the beginning of using pots for cooking food especially grains like rice, wheat and lentils that now became an important part of the diet.
How do we know about Farmers and Herders:
(i) Archaeologists have found many traces of life of early farmers.
(ii) Traces of farmers and herders were available through traces of pottery, pit houses, tools, paintings and daily life.
(iii) Traces were found in Mehrgarh, Burzahom at North-Eastern parts of India etc.
The Chalicolithic Age:
(i) It was around 6,000 years back that man started using copper.
(ii) Tools of copper were better than that of stone.
(iii) It was also called the Copper Stone Age.
(iv) It marked an important transition from use of stones to metals.
The North-West Mehrgarh:
(i) The earliest known civilization of the Indian subcontinent was in Mehrgarh (now Pakistan).
(ii) It was here that man first tamed animals and reared them around 7,000 BC.
(iii) Mehrgarh was probably the place where women and men learnt to grow barley and wheat and rear sheep and goat for the first time in this area.
(iv) It is one of the earliest villages that we know about.
(v) Charred grains and bones of animals were found here.
(vi) Remains of square and rectangular houses have been discovered from this site.Each house had four or more compartments,some of which may have been used for storage.
(vii) At Mehrgarh several burial sites have been found.The dead person was buried with goats,which were probably meant to serve as food in the next world.
The North-East:
(i) Evidence of early settlements were found in Manipur, Tripura, Garo Hills.
(ii) One important Neolithic site in Assam was Daojali Hading. Traces of polished stone tools, ceramics and kitchen items were found here.
(iii) Jadeite,a stone that may have been brought from China,also has been found.
(iv) Tools made of fossil wood(ancient wood that washardened into stone) and pottery have also been found here.
