HistoryChapter No – 2

Early Humans

What is evolution?

Science has shown that species which exist today have developed over millions of yearsThis process is referred to as evolution.

Prehistoric Humans

• The British naturalist, Charles Darwin, has written books, On the Origin of Species(1859), and The Descent of Man (1871) on the nature of our evolutionary relationships.

• Evidence reveals that physical and behavioural characteristics shared byall humanes originated from ape like ancestors and developed over million years.

Anthropologists

• The primary resources for describing the human evolution process are fossil specimens. The fossils of early human and archaeological remains are the crucial evidence of the early past.

• It includes tools, bones and other evidence such as footprints left by early humans.

• These remains are buried naturally and preserved for many years.

• They are either discovered on the surface or by digging in the ground. Size and shape of a bone and markings left by muscles help the anthropologists in knowing how the early people moved and held tools.

• They also determine the physical structure, the size of the early humans’ brains and how it changed over time by studying fossilized bones.

Archaeologists

• Archaeological evidences are those things that are made by the early people and the places where archaeologists discover them.

• By carefully studying such evidences, archaeologists can find out how the early humans made and use tools and lived in their surroundings.

Dating Techniques

• The layers that contain fossils and archaeological clues can be dated by various techniques.

• The important ones are Radio-Carbon dating, Thermo Luminescence dating, Potassium-Argon dating and Electron Spin Resonance dating.

• The Radio-Carbon dating technique is used for dating those remains which are associated with all living things.

• The Thermo Luminescence dating technique is used for materials such as pottery and terracotta that have been baked.

• The Potassium-Argon dating technique is used for volcanic rocks.• The Electron Spin Resonance dating technique is employed for

dating bones and shells.

Migration of Early Humans

• Humans not only first evolved in Africa but much of human evolution also took place there.

• The fossilized remains of early people who lived between 6 million and 2 million years ago are entirely found in Africa.

• They first wandered out of Africa into Asia possible sometime between 2 million and 1.8 million years ago.

• They came to Europe between 1.5 million and 1 million years ago.

• Subsequently species of modern humans lived in different parts of the world much later.

• For example, they first entered Australia possibly within the past 60,000 years and America within the past 30,000 years or so.

Stone Age

• Gradually, man used tools, started living in caves, hunted animals, lived in settlements and finally became the man of the modern age.

• On the basis of stone tools used by man, the Stone Age is divided into three periods: PalaeolithicAge, Mesolithic Age and Neolithic Age.

• Palaeolithic Age or Old Stone Age - 500000 BCE–10000 BCE.

• StoneTools: Palaeolithic human used crude and unpolished stone tools. Large stones were shaped into hammers and axe head. Tools were used for Cutting trees, killing and skinning animals, chopping and digging up roots.

• Food: Palaeolithic human was a food gatherer and hunter. He hunted wild animals, collected wild fruits and did fishing for meeting his food requirements.

• Place of Shelter: Palaeolithic human did not build houses. He lived either on treetops or caves

• Clothing: Palaeolithic human wore barks of trees, leaves and animal skin to protect themselves from heat, cold and rain.

• Social Life: Palaeolithic human moved in small groups and led a nomadic life.

• Economic Life: Hunting and Food Gathering.

• Special Features: Fire was discovered by the Palaeolithic human. It proved to be a significant discovery for the early humans. Fire provided light and kept them warm. It was also used to scare wild animals. It further helped to cook food. Cave painting was yet another special feature of the Palaeolithic Age. Palaeolithic human produced works of art such as animal carvings, cave paintings

Look at some of the tools used by the people in the Stone Age.

Natural PaintsStone Age paint was made out of natural materials. You might have noticed that many of the paintings are made from browns, whites, reds and oranges. The paints were made by grinding up natural materials like rocks, woods, bones or charcoal and then mixing the powders with water or animal fat to create paint. Tools

People would have used their fingertips to make the pictures. Alternatively, some cave artists used twigs or brushes made from animal hair.

FireIt was dark in the caves and the cave artists would have needed a wooden fire torch to help theme to see.

Mesolithic Ageor Middle Stone Age

• Mesolithic Age or Middle Stone Age 10000 BCE–8000 BCE.

• Mesolithic human used advanced flint tools known as microliths. The tools were sharper, smaller and more effective than those used in Palaeolithic Age. Animal bones and horns were used to make tools.

• Food: Hunting and food gathering continued to be the main source of food.

• Place of Shelter: Lived in simple houses made up of straws.

• Clothing: Wore barks of trees,leaves and animal skin to protect themselves from heat, cold and rain.

• Social Life: Mesolithic human made a move to live a settled life.

• Economic Life: Hunting and food gathering. The period marked the beginning of animal husbandry.

• Special Features: Animals such as goats, sheep and dogs were domesticated. New things such as fishing tackles and bows were invented to make their lives easier.

Neolithic Age

• Neolithic Age or New Stone Age -8000 BCE–4000 BCE.• Stone Tools: Neolithic human used improved stone tools. The tools were well shaped

and polished. The tools were used for cutting plants, fruits and meat. Tools such as sickle blades and grinding stones were used for harvesting and processing of crops.

• Food: Cultivated cereal crops such as wheat and barley. Domesticated animals such as goats, cattle and sheep provided them with a regular supply of milk and meat.

• Place of Shelter: Lived in houses made up of sun dried and burnt brick houses.• Clothing: Developed the art of spinning and weaving. Clothes made of woolen and linen

were used.• Social Life: Neolithic human lived a settled life. He lived in small tribes of 150–2000

people.• Economic Life: Agriculture was started in Neolithic Age. Bullocks, donkeys and horses

were used to plough the fields.• Special Features: Wheel was invented during this period, which marked a major

milestone in the evolutionary history of humankind. The wheel was used to make pottery, transportation of heavy objects as well as humans. Clay pots were made and even decorated with floral or geometrical designs. These pots were used to store grains, water and for cooking food.

From Stones to Metals

• Chalcolithic Age• The Chalcolithic Age replaced the Neolithic Age.

• The Chalcolithic Age was distinguished by the use of stone and copper tools.

• Hence the name, Chalcolithic, was given meaning the copper-stone age.

• It is often referred to as ‘proto-historic’ as it was different from the Stone Age which lacked the knowledge of metal and script.

• The use of copper led to the making of metal artefacts.

• Houses were either circular or rectangular on plain. The houses usually had only one room but multi-roomed houses also existed as is evident at Inamgaon near Pune. The houses used to be plastered with cow dung and lime.

Pre Historic Sites of Stone Age India

• Farming, hunting and fishing were some of the different occupations followed by the Chalcolithic people. They reared cattle, sheep, goats, buffaloes and pigs, which were also slaughtered for food.

• Crops such as wheat, rice, bajra, jowar, millets, ragi, green pea, lentil, green gram and black gram were grown.

• Painted pottery was an important feature of the Chalcolithic period.

• The pottery ranges from red ware, deep red ware to deep brown and black, pictographic red and black and polished red ware found from the Chalcolithic sites.

• The burial practice was yet another remarkable feature. The dead were buried in a particular direction all over a particular area.

Megaliths

• The practice of erecting Megaliths, literally meaning

big stones, started around 3000 years ago.

• People carefully put together the stone boulders to mark burial sites.

• This practice was prevalent in the north-east, Deccan, Kashmir and South India.

• The megaliths are often found underground but some can also be seen on the surface.

• Archaeologists discovered a circle of boulders or a large stone standing on the ground indicates that there are burials beneath.

• These burials have certain common features. Usually, the dead were buried with pots called as black and red ware. Several tools, skeletons of horses, weapons of iron and ornaments of stone and gold have also been found.

• The practice of Megalithic culture of buildings continued well into the historic period and survives even to present-day in a symbolic form among the Lingayat community in Karnataka.

Case Studies

Palaeolithic site in IndiaHunsgi• Palaeolithic remains have been found in Hunsgi region in Gulbarga district in

Karnataka. Thesite is situated on the banks of the Hunsgi, a tributary of the Krishna. The tools found in Hunsgi are mostly made up of various kinds of stones including limestone, sandstone, quartzite, dolerite and chert. In one of the excavated sites, huge granite blocks were arranged around 63 square metre areas.

Neolithic sites in India

Sarutaru• Sarutaru is a small town situated at 25 km southeast of Guwahati and the

Neolithic site lies on the top of a small hillock about 125 m high. Archaeological remains reveal different artefacts such as the ground stone celts and potsherds. Numerous potsherds have been retrieved from the site. Handmade pottery made of clay and quartz particles have been found.

• Burzahom• Burzahom is located 16 km northeast of Srinagar and situated about 1800 m above sea-

level. Archaeologists have also found traces of pit-houses that sheltered people in cold weather. These were dug into the soil below ground level with steps leading into them. Cooking hearths were found both inside and outside the houses. It suggests that people used to cook food either indoors or outdoors depending on the weather. Other finds include different types of earthen pots. These were used for cooking food and storing things. At times, these were decorated. Besides, people used variety of materials such as cotton to weave cloth.

Chalcolithic site in India

Inamgaon• The ancient site at Inamgaon is located on the right bank of the river Ghod, a tributary of the

Bhima. It is a widespread site, consisting of fi ve mounds forming a rough semicircle, spread over an area of 65 acres. The Inamgaon excavations have lessened the gap between the Chalcolithic phase and the early historic period by almost three centuries. According to archaeological evidence, the fi rst cultural contact to the site was of the people from Central India, called the Malwa people. The adults were buried in a small pit just large enough for the purpose and were oriented in a North-South direction. A bowl and a spouted vessel were found along with the burial. Vessels containing food and water were also placed in the pit. The burials were found within the habitation area, either inside or in the courtyard of the house.

Global Connection

• The Aborigines of Australia• According to archaeologists, the first humans went across the ocean from South-East to

Australia around 70,000 years ago. At that time the sea level was 50 meters lower than it is now. The aborigines could travel over to Australia as there was less water. The word ‘aborigines’ mean ‘the first or the earliest known’. The word is used to describe people who lived there, natives or old habitants. The aborigines usually lived in the desert, inland non-desert areas, the coast and Tasmania. The aborigines who lived in the desert or inland ate fruits, insects, birds, reptiles and mammals. The aborigines lived on the coastal area ate roots, fruit, small animals, reptiles, fish and shellfish.