EARLY HUMANS

                                                  EARLY HUMANS

1.What is Stone Age?

Ans: During stone age people started to use stones for making their tools . Therefore this period in the human history is known as the stone age.

The Stone Age can be divided into three periods based on the quality of stones they used to make their tools. They are -

1) Palaeolithic Age

2) Mesolithic Age

3) Neolithic Age

2. Write a short note on  Palaeolithic Period.

Ans: Palaeolithic period is also known as the Old Stone Age. It lasted from 5,00,000 to 10.000 BCE. The word Palaeolithic comes from the Greek words palaeo meaning old and lithis meaning stone. Hence, it is known as old stone age.

3.What are the main features of the Palaeolithic Period?

The main features of Palaeolithic Period are -

1) Food gatherers: In the Palaeolithic stage humans were nomads and food gatherers. They kept moving from one place to another place in search of food. They moved in groups. They killed animals and ate raw meat. They also ate roots of plants, wild fruits, nuts, seeds, etc. 

2)Clothing: The Palaeolithic people used the leaves of bark of the trees and furs of animals to cover their bodies.

3) Dwelling place: Early humans used to live on trees or in caves. Caves provided shelter from heat and rain and protected them from wild animals.

4) Tools: The Palaeolithic people used stone tools. Some tools made from bones of animals have also been found at number of places. Tools of that period are crude and are not of very good quality. Such tools have been found in Rewa, Bundelkhand, Kurnool and Madhya Pradesh in India. 

5) Discovery of fire: Discovery of fire is another feature of the Palaeolithic period. Slowly and gradually they started to learn the uses of fire and how to control it. They used fire by the following ways -

a) They used it to cook meat before eating rather than eating raw meat.

b) They lit fire outside their caves to protect themselves from wild animals.

c) They kept themselves warm with the help of fire in the cold weather. 

6) Art: Early humans painted on the walls of caves. Such paintings have been found inside caves in Bhimbetka in Madhya Pradesh. 

These paintings give us some idea about the life of early humans .Most of the paintings depict scenes of hunting, people dancing, playing round drums,wounded animals, people riding animals like elephant, bison,horse, tiger,wild boar,animals fighting and so on. 

4.Write about Tool making techniques of Palaeolithic Men. 

Ans: 1) Stone to stone:This technique was used in which one stone was to be shaped and held in one hand and another stone was held in the other hand as a hammer. The second stone or the hammer was stuck on the core in a manner to break away parts of the stone and give the desired shape to the core stone and make it into a tool.

2) Pressure flaking: It is a method of trimming the edge of a stone tool by removing small stony flakes by pressing on the stone with a sharp stone rather than striking it.

5. Write a short note on Mesolithic period .

Ans: Mesolithic period lasted from 10,000 to 8000 BCE. This period is also known as Middle Stone Age.  The word meso means middle in Greek.

Mesolithic period was the period between the Palaeolithic and the Neolithic age. In this age , the climate changed and it became warm and dry.

 

6. What are the features of the Mesolithic Period?

Ans: 1) During the Mesolithic age humans learnt to make better tools.

2) Tools were more delicate as compared to the tools of the Palaeolithic Age.

3) They made flake tools such as scrapers and knives.

4) They started to make smaller and sharper tools called microliths.

7.What are microliths?

Ans: Microliths are tiny razor like flakes that were fitted into the wooden shaft of an arrow or spear.

8. Write a short note on Neolithic Period.

Ans: Neolithic Period or New stone age lasted from 8,000 to 4,000 BCE. The word 'neo ' means 'new' in Greek.So, this period is known as New Stone Age.

9. Which places are we most likely to find remains of early humans?

Ans: In Africa , Ethiopia.

 

10.  List the three periods into which Stone age is divided.

Answer: The stone age can be divided into 3 periods. They are-

a) Paleolithic 

b)Mesolithic 

c)Neolithic 

 

11)what does the Greek word litho mean?

Ans: The Greek word litho mean stone.

 

12.Why did early humans move from place to place?

Ans:The early humans move from place to place in search of food.

 

13.Write down the importance of caves for early man.

Answer: Caves were important for early humans . Caves provided shelter from heat and rain and protected them from wild animals.

 

14.Name few places where tools belonging to early humans have been found.

Answer: In certain places the tools have been found which were belonging to the early humans.For example ,tools have been found in Rewa, Bundelkhand , Kurnool and Madhya Pradesh in India.

 

15. Where are Bhimbetka caves located?

Ans:In Madhya Pradesh.

 

16.How were colours  prepared by early humans which have not a faded till now.

Answer: The colours were  prepared by  early humans by combining charcoal, rad stone and powders from other stones.

 

17. What is the other name of Mesolithic period?

Ans: Middle Stone Age.

 

18.What are microliths?

Answer: Microliths are smaller and sharper tools made by the early humans.

19.Name the oldest plateau of the Indian Subcontinent.

Ans: The Deccan Plateau.

 

20.Where is Hunsgi located?

Ans: Hunsgi is located in North Karnataka.

 

21.Prepare a list of artefacts recovered from Hunsgi.

Ans: Artefacts recovered from Hunsgi are hand- axes, cleavers,scrapers and knives.

 

22.Which was the principal stone used for making tools in those times?

Ans: Limestone.

 

23. Who were Nomads?

Ans: Nomads were the people who move from one place to another in search of food.

24.Choose the correct option:

1.Stone age is divided into

i) two periods ii) three periods iii)four periods iv)five periods

Ans: ii) Three periods.

2.Tools were used by early humans to

i)  skin the animals              ii)cut the roots of plants                      iii)scrap the bark of the trees           iv)all of these

Ans:  iv)all of these

3.Fire was discovered by early humans  during the 

i) Palaeolithic  period            ii)Mesolithic period      iii)Neolithic period         iv)Chalcolithic period

Ans:i) Palaeolithic  period

4.Bhimbetka caves are located in the state of 

i)Uttar Pradesh           ii)Haryana              iii)Punjab                   iv)Madhya Pradesh

Ans: iv)Madhya Pradesh

5.Cave paintings of Bhimbetka had been declared a Heritage site by    i)UNICEF       ii)WWF        iii)WHO          iv)UNESCO

Ans: iv)UNESCO

6.A number of Palaeolithic sites have been found in the hunsgi and Kurnool near

i) Soan River         ii)Ganga River         iii)Mahanadi River        iv)Krishna river

Ans:iv)Krishna river

7. Microliths were made by early humans in the 

i) Paleolithic age          ii)Mesolithic age           iii)Neolithic age

iv)Chalcolithic age

Ans:  ii)Mesolithic age  

8. Microliths  were

i)small and sharp  tools         ii)tools for digging the ground 

iii) musical instrument            iv)earthen toys

Ans:i)small and sharp  tools   

25.Fill in the blanks:

1.Hominids were the ancestors of mankind.

2. In 1974, in Ethiopia, scientists discovered the remains of a female body which were quiet similar to the human beings of today.

3.Discovery of fire was one of the most important discovery in the history of humans.

4.The Deccan Plateau is one of the oldest plateaus  of the Indian subcontinent.

5.Granite, basait and shale were also used as raw material to make stone tools at Hunsgi.

6.Neolithic period is the last period of the Stone Age.

26.State whether true or false

1.Most of the remains of early humans beings have been found close to river basins.

Ans: True.

2.Mesolithic period means New Stone Age .

Ans: False.

3.The paintings in the Bhimbetka caves have not faded till now.

Ans: True.

4.Microliths were made in the Neolithic Age.

Ans: False.

5.Granite tools were recovered from the site of Hunsgi.

Ans: True.