NCERT Class 6 History Chapter 2 Notes From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food

Chapter 2 From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food Class 6 History Notes will be helpful in knowing about the new topics and things. These NCERT Notes for Class 6 History will be helpful in understanding the concepts in better way.

CBSE Chapter 2 Notes From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food Class 6 Social Science History

The earliest people: why were they on the move?

1. Hunter-gatherers moved from place to place.

• They eaten up all the available plants and animals resources where they stay for the long time, for the search of food they have to move from place to place.

• Some of the animals move from place to place in search for food that is why the hunters have to follow their movement.

• Because of seasons change some of the plants and trees don’t bear fruits so people have to move place to place in search of different kinds of plants.

• Plants, animals and people needs water, people need water during dry seasons that’s why they travelled on foot from place to place.

How do we know about these people?

1. Archaeologists have found some of the things hunter-gatherers made and used.

2. It is likely that people made and used tools of stone, wood and bone, of which stone tools have survived best. Some of these stone tools were used to cut meat and bone, scrape bark (from trees) and hides (animal skins), chop fruit and roots while others may have been attached to handles of bone or

wood, to make spears and arrows for hunting.

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

Choosing a place to live in

1. Many sites of hunter-gatherers were located near sources of water, such as rivers and lakes.

2. Places where stone was found and where people made tools are known as factory sites. These may be found on the surface of the earth, buried under the earth, or sometimes even under water.

Finding out about fire

1. Traces of ash have been found in places like Kurnool caves, which suggest that people used fire.

2. One of the biggest discoveries made by man was fire. Fire could have been used for many things: as a source of light, to roast meat, and to scare away animals.

A changing environment

1. Around 12,000 years ago, the temperature of the world started increasing which led to development of grasslands.

2. This increased the number of deer, antelope, goat, sheep and cattle, i.e. animals that survived on grass.

3. People started thinking about herding and rearing these animals themselves.

4. Fishing also became important.

The beginnings of farming and herding

1. Domestication is the process in which the man grows the plants and protects the animals. It began about 12,000 years ago.

2. The first animal to be tamed was the wild ancestor of the dog. 

3. Later people protected animals such as sheep, goat, cattle and also the pig from attacks by other wild animals. This is how they became herders.

A new way of Life

1. Now, people started staying in the same place for a long time looking after the plants, watering, weeding, driving away animals and birds till the grain ripened.

2. As grain had to be stored for both food and seed, people began making large clay pots, or wove baskets, or dug pits into the ground.

‘Storing’ animals

1. Animals multiply naturally. Besides, if they are looked after carefully, they provide milk, which is an important source of food, and meat, whenever required.

2. In other words, animals that are reared can be used as a ‘store’ of food.

Finding out about the first farmers and herders

1. The archaeologists have found evidence of early farmers and herders.

2. These are found all over the subcontinent. Some of the most important ones are in the north-west, in present-day Kashmir, and in east and south India.

3. To prove that these settlements belonged to farmers and herders, scientists study the evidences of plants and animals.

4. Scientists have found burnt grain at these sites. These grains could have been burnt accidentally or purposefully. Also, bones of different animals are found.

5. Based on these finds scientists confirm that a number of crops plants and animals existed in different parts of India sub-continent.

Towards a settled life

1. Archaeologists have found traces of huts or houses at some sites. For instance, in Burzahom (in present-day Kashmir) people built pit-houses, which were dug into the ground, with steps leading into them.

2. Archaeologists have also found cooking hearths both inside and outside the huts, which suggests that, depending on the weather, people could cook food either indoors or outdoors.

3. Stone tools have been found from many sites as well which are different from the earlier Palaeolithic tools and that is why they are called Neolithic. These include tools that were polished to give a fine cutting edge, and mortars and pestles used for grinding grain and other plant produce.

4. Many kinds of earthen pots have also been found. These were sometimes decorated, and were used for storing things.

5. People began weaving cloth, using different kinds of materials, for example cotton, that could now be grown.

6. In many areas, men and women still continued to hunt and gather food, and elsewhere people adopted farming and herding slowly, over several thousand years.

A closer look — Living and dying in Mehrgarh

1. Mehrgarh site is located in a fertile plain, near the Bolan Pass, which is one of the most important routes into Iran.

2. Mehrgarh was probably one of the places where women and men learnt to grow barley and wheat, and rear sheep and goats for the first time in this area.

3. Several burial sites have been found at Mehrgarh.