The Earliest People Chapter Notes | History Class 6 ICSE PDF Download

Introduction 

Evolution of Man

• Earth is over 4600 million years old, with life beginning around 3500 million years ago.
• Humans evolved from an ape-like common ancestor, separating to develop independently.
• Earliest humans likely appeared in Africa 2 to 1.5 million years ago and spread globally.
• Key changes included walking upright, freeing arms from supporting body weight.
• Development of opposable thumbs enabled gripping objects.
• Brain size increased, and jaws became smaller, leading to modern Homo sapiens.
• Fossils, hardened remains of ancient plants and animals, helped trace human evolution.

Sites

• Sites are locations where remains like tools, weapons, and buildings are found, either buried, on the surface, or underwater.
• Early human sites were typically near water sources like rivers or lakes and where stones were abundant.
• Factory sites are places where finished and unfinished stone tools were discovered.
• Habitation-cum-factory sites contain animal remains and artefacts, indicating both living and working areas.

The Stone Age

• Stone Age is the period when stone was primarily used for tools and weapons.
• Early humans used stone, bones, animal horns, and wood to create tools for hunting, cutting, and clearing forests.
• Divided into three periods: Palaeolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age), and Neolithic (New Stone Age).
• "Palaeo" means old, "meso" means middle, "neo" means new, and "lithic" comes from the Greek word for stone.

The Palaeolithic Age

• Palaeolithic Age, or Old Stone Age, involved the use of stone tools for hunting.
• Humans were hunter-gatherers, moving in groups to hunt animals, fish, and gather food like fruits, roots, and nuts.
• They lived in caves, rock shelters, treetops, or open areas for safety and food sharing.
• Longest Stone Age period, from 2 million years ago to the end of the last Ice Age (around 10,000 years ago).

Subdivided into:

• Lower Palaeolithic Age: Earliest humans, hand-axe industries, ended about 120,000 years ago.
• Middle Palaeolithic Age: Era of Neanderthals, ended about 35,000 years ago.
• Upper Palaeolithic Age: Only modern Homo sapiens existed.

Palaeolithic Sites

• In India, Palaeolithic remains found at Potwar Plateau, Narmada Valley, Soan Valley, and Chota Nagpur Plateau (Jharkhand).
• Deccan region sites include Pune, Nashik, Chirki-Nevasa (Maharashtra), Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), and Hunsgi (Karnataka).
• These sites are located in fertile plains of rivers like Tapi, Krishna, and Godavari.

Palaeolithic Tools

• Stone, wood, bones, and animal horns used for tools to cut meat, scrape bark, and chop fruits/roots.
• Early tools made of flint, a stone that chips easily, found near riverbeds in Punjab and Kashmir Valley.
• Two types of tools: core tools and flake tools.
• Core tools:
  • Made by chipping flakes from rock or pebbles using a hammer stone, wood, or bone.
  • Resulting core was oval or pear-shaped, used for cutting trees and digging roots/tubers.
• Flake tools:
  • Made from sharp flakes broken off during core tool creation.
  • Shaped using a chisel and hammer on a hard surface, used for chopping meat and skinning animals.

Discovery of Fire

• Fire, a major Palaeolithic discovery, likely found accidentally by rubbing stones or wood, producing sparks.
• Traces of ash found at Palaeolithic sites confirm fire use.
• Used to scare animals, cook meat, provide light, and keep warm in winters.

Mesolithic Age

• Mesolithic Age, or Middle Stone Age, began after the last Ice Age, with warmer climate.
• A transitional period between Palaeolithic and agriculture.
• People hunted, gathered, and fished, but introduced microliths—small stone tools fixed to bone or wood handles for spears, arrows, and saws.
• Improved hunting and gathering techniques with new tools.
• Began using wild grains and domesticating animals, leading to longer settlements.
• By the end, humans moved toward a more settled life.

Mesolithic Sites
Found across India, including Gujarat plains, Chota Nagpur (Jharkhand), Bhimbetka and Adamgarh rock shelters (Madhya Pradesh), Ganga riverbanks (Ghazipur to Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh), Bagor (Rajasthan), and Mysore (Karnataka).

Rock Art

• Stone Age rock paintings on cave walls are key sources of early human life.
• Many survive today, mainly showing animals, hunting scenes, birds, fish, crabs, frogs, and scorpions.
• Some include human figures.
• Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, feature such art.
• Colours made from rocks and minerals, primarily red and white.
• Other notable sites include Lascaux (France) and Altamira (Spain), 20,000–17,000 years old, also UNESCO sites.
• Lascaux, discovered in 1940, shows animals like horses, bisons, mammoths, and one human figure, using pigments from iron-ore and charcoal (red, yellow, black, brown, violet).