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Chapter 2: From Hunting–Gathering to Growing Food

 


✅ 1. Early Humans: Hunter–Gatherers

  • Hunted animals, caught fish, gathered plants.

  • Moved place to place because:

    • Local resources would run out.

    • Animals migrate.

    • Plants are seasonal.

    • Water sources dry up.

✅ 2. Sources of Knowledge

  • Stone tools made of bones, wood, and sharp stones.

  • Used to:

    • Hunt animals.

    • Cut meat & plants.

    • Dig roots.

    • Make shelters.

✅ 3. Choosing Settlement Places

  • Lived near rivers, streams, or areas with:

    • Water

    • Stones

    • Wood

    • Food

  • Caves & rock shelters provided protection.

✅ 4. Fire: A Game Changer

  • Traces of ash found at Kurnool caves.

  • Fire used for:

    • Light

    • Roasting meat

    • Protection from animals

✅ 5. Important Site: Bhimbetka Rock Shelters

  • Located in Madhya Pradesh

  • Famous for prehistoric rock paintings

  • Paintings show hunting, dancing, animals, etc.

  • Discovered by V.S. Wakankar in 1957

  • UNESCO World Heritage Site

✅ 6. Stone Age Periods

Period Time Feature
Palaeolithic 2 million – 12,000 years ago Old Stone Age
Mesolithic 12,000 – 10,000 years ago Microlith tools
Neolithic 10,000 – 4,500 years ago Farming begins

✅ 7. Beginning of Farming & Herding

  • Around 12,000 years ago, climate warmed.

  • Grasslands developed → animals (goat, sheep, cattle) increased.

  • People began domesticating animals.

  • Dog was the first animal domesticated.

  • Learned to grow wheat, barley, rice.

✅ 8. Settled Life Begins

  • People stayed longer to tend crops.

  • Stored food in pots, pits, baskets.

  • Started making pottery and weaving cloth (cotton).

✅ 9. Important Neolithic Site: Mehrgarh

  • In Balochistan, Pakistan

  • Near Bolan Pass

  • Early farming: wheat, barley

  • Domestication: sheep, goats

  • Dead were buried with goats → belief in life after death

🧠 Quick Facts & Terms

Term Meaning
Microliths Tiny stone tools of Mesolithic Age
Domestication Taming animals/plants for human use
Pit houses Found in Kashmir
Mehrgarh First farming + burial site
Bhimbetka Prehistoric art & shelter site in MP

❓ MCQs Practice (Moderate + Advanced + PYQs)

🔹 Level 1: Moderate

  1. Which animal was first domesticated?
    👉 (a) Dog

  2. What is the art of making pots called?
    👉 (c) Pottery

  3. Bhimbetka is near which river valley?
    👉 (b) Narmada

  4. Why did people start staying in one place?
    👉 (c) For tending plants & food storage

  5. What was fire used for?
    👉 (d) All of the above

🔹 Level 2: Advanced

  1. What led to domestication of animals?
    👉 Climate change → Grasslands → Animal growth

  2. What is special about Microlith tools?
    👉 Small, sharp, used in Mesolithic Age

  3. What do rock paintings show?
    👉 Lifestyle: Hunting, rituals, animals

  4. Why were animals buried with people in Mehrgarh?
    👉 Belief in afterlife

  5. What does the presence of clay pots indicate?
    👉 Settled life and food storage

🔹 PYQs (UPSC/CDS/SSC)

  1. The rock paintings at Bhimbetka belong to which period?
    👉 (b) Mesolithic

  2. Evidence of pit-dwellings found at:
    👉 (a) Burzahom (Kashmir)

  3. Which of these belongs to the Neolithic era?
    👉 Use of polished tools, farming, permanent homes

📝 Short Notes for Revision

  • 🔥 Fire: Roasting, light, safety

  • 🐶 Domestication: Dog → sheep, goat, cattle

  • 🍚 Farming: Started ~12,000 yrs ago (wheat, barley, rice)

  • 🪨 Tools: Stone → microliths → polished tools

  • 🏺 Mehrgarh: Farming + burials (Pakistan)

  • 🎨 Bhimbetka: Rock paintings (MP)

  • 🏠 Pit-houses: Found in Burzahom, Kashmir

🧪 Self-Test Questions

  • Where was wheat and barley first grown?

  • Which site provides earliest burial evidence?

  • What are microliths and where found?

  • Why was fire a revolutionary invention?

  • How do archaeologists identify early farmers?