CLASS VI, HISTORY, CHAPTER 2

1. HISTORY
CLASS VI
CHAPTER -2
ON THE TRAIL OF THE
EARLIEST PEOPLE
FROM
SHRADHA SINGH

2. THE EARLIEST PEOPLE:WHY WERE THEY
ON THE MOVE
Hunter gatherers lived in the subcontinent as early as 2 million years ago.
They hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds ,gathered fruits , roots ,nuts ,
berries.
They moved from place to place due to 4 reasons:
1. If they stayed at one place for a long time, they would eat up all the available
plants and animal resources.
2. Animals move from place to place in search of prey so those who hunted
them also had to follow them.
3. Plants and trees bear fruits in different seasons, so seasonal movement was
necessary.
4. People,plants and animals need water to survive .so in search of water people
and animals had to move from place to place

3. SOME IMPORTANT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES

4. HOW DO WE KNOW ABOUT THESE PEOPLE
1. MATERIAL CULTURE: Things made
by them for example tools made
of wood , stone or bone.
• USES OF TOOLS
• Cut meat and bone
• Scrape bark from trees and hides
• Chop fruits and roots
• Make spears and arrows
• Chop wood

5. Times and Dates
Paleolithic( 2
million yrs ago to
12000 years ago)
Mesolithic(12000
yrs ago to 10000
yrs ago)
Neolithic
(10000years
onwards)

6. HOW DID THE HUNTER GATHERERS
CHOOSE A PLACE TO LIVE
•Sites were located near source of water, lakes and rivers.
•Places where quality stone was easily available .(since stone was
required to make tools. ) PLACES WHERE STONE WAS AVAILABLE AND
PEOPLE USED TO MAKE TOOLS THERE ARE CALLED FACTORY SITES . We
have located them because we have found discarded pieces of stone
over there . Sometimes people used to stay here for longer times and
these places were called HABITATION CUM FACYORY SITES.

7. MAKING STONE TOOLS – 2 TECHNIQUES
FIRST TECHNIQUE
• The first is called stone on stone.
Here, the pebble from which the
tool was to be made (also called
the core) was held in one hand.
Another stone, which was used as
a hammer was held in the other
hand. The second stone was used
to strike off flakes from the first, till
the required shape was obtained.
DIAGRAM

8. MAKING STONE TOOLS – 2 TECHNIQUES
SECOND TECHNIQUE
• Pressure flaking: Here the core was
placed on a firm surface. The
hammer stone was used on a piece
of bone or stone that was placed
on the core, to remove flakes that
could be shaped into tools..
DIAGRAM

9. FINDING ABOUT FIRE
KURNOOL CAVES: Traces of
ash have been found.
Fire was used for
1 Source of light
2 Cook meat
3 Scare away animals.

10. CHANGES IN ENVIRONMENT AND ITS EFFECTS
Almost 12000 years ago there were changes in
environment which led to
A) Development of grasslands which led to development
of grass feeding animals. People might have thought
of domesticating animals when they learnt about
their feeding habits etc.
B) Relatively warmer conditions
C) Development of grain bearing grasses which led to
growth of wheat , barley ,rice in different parts of the
subcontinent . People may have thought of growing
them now.

11. ROCK PAINTINGS AND WHAT THEY DEPICT
BEST EXAMPLES OF
WALL PAINTINGS ARE
FROM MADHYA
PRADESH AND
SOUTHERN UTTAR
PRADESH.
Painting from Bhimbetka (MP)

12. CASE STUDY-HUNSGI
•Paleolithic sites have been found here.
•Large number of tools
•Habitation cum factory sites.
•Many tools were made of limestone
which was locally available.

14. FIND OF OSTRICH EGGS
OSTRICH EGG SHELLS HAVE BEEN
FOUND IN PATNE, MAHARASHTRA.
SOME EGGS ARE ENGRAVED AND
PAINTED TOO.