NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History Chapter 2 – On the Trail of the Earliest People

NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History Chapter 2 – On the Trail of the Earliest People (Social Science), contains solutions to various questions in Exercise for Chapter 2.  At the end of the Solutions, all the keywords and Notes which are important to understand On the Trail of the Earliest People Class 6 History, have been explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner. NCERT Solutions for Class 6 Social Science helps to check the concept you have learned from detailed classroom sessions and the application of your knowledge.

Category	NCERT Solutions for Class 6
Subject	History (Social Science)
Chapter	Chapter 2 – On the Trail of the Earliest People

Download NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History Chapter 2 – On the Trail of the Earliest People

NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History Chapter 2 – On the Trail of the Earliest People – NCERT Exercises

Question 1:-

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 _____________.

Answer 1: –

(a)Hunter-gatherers chose to live in caves and rock shelters because it provided them with shelter from the rain, heat and wind.

(b)Grasslands developed around 12,000 years ago.

(c)Early people painted on the walls of caves.

(d)In Hunsgi, tools were made of limestone.

Question 2:-

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 cities?

Answer 2:-

The present-day political map of the Indian subcontinent (as on page 136 of the chapter) depicts the location of some important archaeological sites with:

• Bhimbetka being located in Madhya Pradesh
• Hunsgi being located in Karnataka
• Kurnool being located in Andhra Pradesh

It is quite possible that Tushar’s train would have passed near Bhimbetka, Hunsgi and Kurnool as they all tend to lie on a possible train route from Delhi to Chennai.

Question 3:-

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?

Answer 3:-

One can list several reasons as to why hunter-gatherers moved from place to place:

• To begin with, the hunter-gatherers would have consumed all the available plant and animal resources provided they resided in one place for too long and hence they had to move to other places in search of food.
• Secondly, all those who were involved in hunting of animals had to follow the movements of those animals. These animals however moved from place to place in search of smaller prey, or, as in the case of deer and wild cattle, in search of grass and leaves.
• Thirdly, people moved from one place to another from season to season in order to search for different kinds of plants and trees which are to subject to bearing fruits in different seasons.
• Fourth, people living on the banks of seasonal rivers, streams and lakes had to move from one place to another in search of water during the dry seasons i.e. winter and summer.
• Lastly, people may have travelled in order to meet their relatives and friends.

In the present day, people do not travel for reasons like search of food or water or for hunting except for the minority tribes still residing in forests who have remained untouched by the mainstream civilization. People now undertake travel to meet their relatives and friends and for purposes like education, business, leisure and entertainment.

Question 4:-

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

Answer 4:-

The tools used today for cutting fruits are knives and fruit choppers. These are usually made of iron or steel.

Question 5:-

List three ways in which hunter-gatherers used fire (see page 16). Would you use fire for any of these purposes today?

Answer 5:-

Three ways in which hunter-gatherers used fire included:

• As a source of light
• A way to scare away animals for self-protection
• A resource to cook meat
• To aid in cave paintings

Fire is still used today for cooking purposes. In less-developed rural areas, it is used as a source of light during the nights.

Question 6:-

Make two columns in your notebook. In the left hand column, list the foods hunter-gatherers ate (see page 11). In the right hand column, list some of the foods you eat. Do you notice any similarities/differences?

Answer 6:-

Foods eaten by hunter-gatherers	Foods eaten by modern man
Eggs Nuts Seeds Roots Fruits Leaves Stalks Fishes Birds Animal meat	Eggs Fruits Fishes Animal meat Vegetables Bread Pizza Burger

There are certain similarities in what the hunter-gatherers ate and what we eat today such as fruits, eggs, meat. However, today we eat most of these after cooking them properly as against hunter-gatherers who mostly ate their food raw. Also, a large lump of consumption today includes more processed food like breads and pizza.

Question 7:-

If you had a natural pebble like the ones shown on page 13, what would you use it for?

Answer 7:-

The natural pebbles like the ones shown on page 13 in the chapter could be used by us for activities like chopping fruits and roots, and cut meat or scrape off animal skin. It could also be used for processing marrow.

Question 8:-

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

Answer 8:-

Tasks performed by both men and women include:

• Teaching
• Practicing medicine (doctor)

Tasks performed only by women include:

• Homemaking
• Security check for women

Tasks performed only by men include:

• Mining
• Carpentry

Topics Covered in Chapter 2 – On the Trail of the Earliest People Class 6 History (Social Science)

• The earliest people: why were they on the move?
• How do we know about these people?
• Choosing a place to live in
• Making stone tools
• Finding out about fire
• A changing environment
• Rock paintings and what they tell us
• Who did what?
• A closer look – Hunsgi

Important Terms Relevant for NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History Chapter 2 –On the Trail of the Earliest People :

Hunter-gatherer: Nomadic people of the past who obtained food from either hunting or foraging wild plants and food are termed as hunter-gatherers.

Site: A site is a place where the remains of things such as tools, pots and buildings were found. They may lie on the surface of the earth, buried under the earth, or sometimes even under water.

Habitation: Habitation refers to the act of living in a particular place.

Factory: Places where stone was found and people made tools were known as factory sites.

Paleolithic: Paleolithic refers to the earliest primitive phase of the stone-age which extends from 2 million years ago to about 12,000 years ago. It is derived from two greek words ‘palaeo’ meaning old and ‘lithos’ meaning old.

Mesolithic: Mesolithic refers to the middle phase of the stone-age, post the Paleolithic phase, beginning about 12,000 years ago till about 10,000 years ago.

Microliths: Microliths refer to stone tools found during the Mesolithic period. They were tiny and were stuck on to handles of bone or wood to make tools such as saws and sickles.

NCERT Solutions for Class 6 History (Social Science)

1. What, Where, How and When
2. On the Trail of the Earliest People
3. From Gathering to Growing Food
4. In the Earliest Cities
5. What Books and Burials Tell us
6. Kingdoms, Kings and an Early Republic
7. New Questions and Ideas
8. Ashoka, The Emperor who Gave up War
9. Vital Villages, Thriving Towns
10. Traders, Kings and Pilgrims
11. New Empires and Kingdoms
12. Buildings, Paintings and Books