EXERCISE:
1. Why do people who grow crops have to stay in the same place for a long time.
Ans : People who grow crops have to stay in the same place for a long time because different plants grow in different conditions. The plants had to be protected from birds and animals so that they could grow and the seeds would ripen.
2. Look at the table on page 27.If Neinuo wanted to eat rice,which are the places she should have visited?
Ans : If Neinuo wanted to eat rice she she would have gone to the following places:
(1) Koldihwa in present day Uttar Pradesh, and
(2) Mahagara in present day Uttar Pradesh.
3. Why do archaeologists think that many people who lived in Mehrgarh were hunters to start with and that herding became more important later.
Ans : Archaeologists think that many people who lived in Mehrgarh were hunters because they found bones of many kinds of animals from the earliest levels. These included bones of wild animals. In the first levels, they found bones of domestic animals. This clearly shows a transition from the practice of hunting to domesticating animals.
4. State whether true or false :
(a) Millets have been found at Hallur.
(b) People in Burzahom lived in rectangular houses.
(c) Chirand is a site in Kashmir.
(d) Jadeite, found in Daojali Hading, may have been brought from China.
Answers :
(a) – (True) , (b) – (False) , (c) – (False) , (d) – (True) .
5. List three ways in which the lives of farmers and herders would have been different from that of hunter – gatherers.
Ans :
| Hunter – gatherers | Farmers herders |
| (1) Lived nomadic life, they travel from place to place in search of wild animals. | (1) Lived settled life, they lived at same place for longer periods of time to take care of their crops. |
| (2) Depended on wild animals for meat. | (2) Depended on domesticated animals for meat. |
| (3) Food supply was not secure so did not have any settled life. | (3) Food supply was more secure and they had settled life. |
| (4) They lived in caves or under the trees. | (4) They lived in huts, pit – houses etc. |
6. Make a list of all the animals mentioned in the table (page 27). For each one describe what they may have been used for.
Ans : The animals must have been used for :
(1) Sheep – meet and wool.
(2) Goat – milk and meat.
(3) Cattle – milk and milk products.
(4) Dog – look after the fields.
(5) Buffalo – milk.
(6) Ox – ploughing the fields and pulling carts.
(7) Pig – meat.
7. List the cereals that you eat.
Ans : Some of the cereals that we eat are :
(1) Rice (2) Wheat (3) Barley
(4) Grains (5) Maize (6) Millets
(7) Lentil
8. Do you grow the cereals you have listed in answer no.7. If yes, draw a chart to show the stages in growing them. If not,draw a chart to show how these cereals reach you from the farmers who grow them.
Ans : The farmers grow the cereals. The various steps involve are the following :
(1) First of all ploughing the field and putting some manure as per requirement of the field.
(2) Sowing the seeds properly.
(3) At the proper time irrigating the fields.
(4) Harvesting the crop.
(5) Lastly, storing them in the sheds.
The cereals reach the people from the farmers. The required chart is shown below:
The crops are purchased by middle man or the agent of merchant from the farmers
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The middle man or the agent bring it to the cities
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Wholesale merchant supply this to the retailer
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We buy it from the shops, either from retailer or wholesale merchant .