Exercise - Question:

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Que: 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 ————————.

Ans:

(a) they gave shelter from rain, heat and wind.

(b) 1200

(c) walls

(d) limetone

Que: Look at the present-day political map of the subcontinent on page 136. Find out the states where Bhimbetka, Hunsgi and Kurnool are located. Would Tushar’s train have passed near any of these sites?

Ans:

Bhimbetka             Madhya pradesh

Hunsgi                 Karnataka

Kurnool                Tamil nadu

Yes, Tushar's train would have passed near these sites.

Let’s discuss

Que: 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?

Ans:

The hunter- gather travelled from place to place to hunt animals and collect fruits, berries and leaves of plant. They followed the seasonol migration of animals. Whenever fruits were less. They went to a new place.

Today  we travel for different reason like going of business trips, excursions, visit to religlous places ect. We also go of buy goods of everyday use.

Que: What tools would you use today for cutting fruit? What would they be made of?

Ans: To cut fruis we use knives, made of steel or we use electric knives.

Que: list three ways in which hunter-gatherers used fire (see page16). Would you use fire for any of these purposes today?

Ans: Hunter- gather may have used fire for cooking food , give light in the interior of the caves and it gave security, because animals were afraid of fire.

Yes, we use fire for cooking food today.

Que: Make two columns in your notebook. In the left hand column, list the foods hunter - gathers ate. In the right hand column, list some of the foods you eat. Do you noticee any similarities/difference.

Ans:

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 everthing raw.

Que: If you had a natural pebble - like the ones shown of page 13 in the textbook, what would you use it for?

Ans:

1. I would have used some of these stone tools to cut meat and bone, scrape bark (from trees) and hides (animal skins), chop fruit, and roots.

2. Some may have been attched to handles of bone or wood, to make spears an darrows for hunting. 

3. Other stone tools were used to chop wood, which was used as firewood.

Que: 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 you list with that of any two of your classmates. Do you notice any similarities/differences in your lists?

Ans: Two tasks that are performed by both men and women:

(a) Teaching 

(b) office jobs

Two tasks that are performed by only men:

(a) Mining

(b) Working in a shipyard

Two taks that are performed by only women:

(a) Nursing

(b) Looking after home and hearth 

Additional - Question:

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Que: What did hunter - gatherers do to sustain themselves?

Ans: They hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds, gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leave, stalks and eggs, in order to sustain themselves.

Que: Why was hunting animals difficult for the people?

Ans:  Hunting animals was difficult because there were several animals that ran faster than human being, many were stronger.

Que: What do people need while hunting animals or catching fish and birds?

Ans: People need to be alert, quick and have lots of presence of mind.

Que: Collecting plant produce needs a lot of precaution. How?

Ans: One needs to find out which plants or parts are edible, that is, can be eaten, as many can be poisonous. It is also necessary to find out about the season when the fruits ripen.

Que: What is the difference between perennial and seasonal lakes and rivers?

Ans: Perennial rivers and lakes are those which bear water throughout the year while seasonal rivers and lakes have water only during a particular period, le. rainy season.

Que: How was the wood used in the past?

Ans: Wood was used as firwood. it was also used huts and tools.

Que: What were factory sites?

Ans: Factory sites were places where a stone was found and where people made toold.

Que: Where are natural caves and rock shelters found?

Ans: Natural caves and rock shelters are found in the Vindhyas and the Deccan plateau.

Que: What suggests that people in the past used fire?

Ans: Traces of ash have been found in the kumool caves. This suggests that people in the past used fire.

Que: Why did earlier use fire?

Ans: They used fire to make light to cook meat to frighten animals.

Que: Name any two grain bearing grasses.

Ans: Wheat and barley.

Que: What is the special feature of the paintings found in madhya pradesh and southern Uttar Pradesh? 

Ans: These paintings show wild animals hich have been drawn with great accuracy and skill.

Que: How ere stone tools used in the past?

Ans: Some stone tools were used to cut meat and bones, scrape bark from trees, and hides le. animal skins, shop fruit, and roots. Some  were used as handles of bone or wood. Some were used to make spears and arrows for hunting. other tools were used to cut wood.

Que: What do you know about habitation - cum - factory sites?

Ans: Usually, we find blocks of stone, tools that were made and perhaps discarded because they were not perfect, and chips of waste stone left behind at factory sites. Sometimes, people lived here for longer period of time. These sites are called habitation - cum - factory sites.

Que: Mention the two techniques that were used to make stone tools.

Ans: The two techniques od making stone tools were:

(i) Stone on stone technique. In this technique, the people from which the tools was to be made 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.

(ii) Pressure flaking. In this technique, the pebble or core was placed on a fire 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 ahsped into tools.

Que: What do you know about the work division among men and women in the ancient past?

Ans: It is totally difficult to know aabout it. However, we can mention atleast two possidilities which are:

• It is likely that both men and women may have done many of the work like hunting. gathering plant produce, etc. togerther.
• It is also possible that some tasks were done only by women and other only by men and again, there could have been different practice in different parts of the sub - continent.