Here are important questions from Class 6 History Chapter 3 From Gathering To Growing Food.

1. Why do people eat different kinds of foods in different places? / Why does food change from place to place?

Food eaten in one part of the world is totally different from food eaten in another part. This is because different plants grow in different conditions. Rice, for example, requires a lot of water. Hence, it is grown in places that receive abundant rainfall. Wheat and barley do not require much water; hence, they cannot be grown in areas suitable for growing rice.

2. How did people become farmers?

People probably started observing plants growing in their surroundings. They could have observed places where edible plants were found and how new plants sprouted from the seeds that had fallen to the ground. They could have also protected plants from birds and animals so that the fruits or seeds could ripen. This is how farming began.

3. How did people become herders?

When people started farming, they had to live in the same place for long periods. They learned that they could attract animals by leaving food for them near their camps. This is how people tamed the wild ancestor of dogs. Later relatively gentle animals such as goats, sheep, cattle and pigs which lived in herds were also encouraged to live near human settlements. People protected these animals from attacks by other wild animals. Thus, they became herders.

4. What is domestication?

Domestication is the process in which people grow plants and look after animals.

5. Why do domesticated plants and animals tend to differ from wild plants and animals?

People grow plants and raise animals that have certain qualities. For example, they prefer to domesticate plants or animals that are less likely to suffer from disease. Likewise, they were more likely to choose plants with strong stalks and large size grains. Seeds from plants that possess these qualities were preserved and sown to ensure that the new plants will have the same qualities. In the case of animals those with gentle temperaments were used for breeding. Because of these reasons wild animals and plants differed from domesticated animals and plants.

6. When did domestication begin?

It began about 12,000 years ago.

7. Name some earliest domesticated animals

Dogs, sheep and goat

8. Name some earliest domesticated plants

Wheat and barley

9. How do people benefit from rearing animals?

Animals multiply naturally and if they are taken good care of, they provide milk and meat.

10. Archaeologists have found traces of pit houses in

Burzahom

11. In what way were neolithic stone tools different from palaeolithic stone tools?

Neolithic stone tools had fine cutting edges unlike palaeolithic stone tools that were not polished. In neolithic era, mortars and pestles were also used for grinding grains and plant produce.

12. What are tribes?

Two to three generations of people used to live together in small settlements or villages. Most families in such villages used to be related to one another. Such groups formed a tribe.

13. Write a short note on how members of a tribe divided work amongst themselves.

Women did most of the agricultural work such as preparing the ground, sowing the seeds, looking after the plants and harvesting the grain. Children also helped by taking care of plants and driving animals away. Once the crops ripened, women also threshed, husked and ground the grain. Men led large herds of animals. Smaller herds were often led by children. Jobs like cleaning the animals and milking were done by both men and women. Other jobs like making huts, pots and baskets were also done by both men and women.

14. Write a short note on tribes.

Tribes were groups of related families that lived in small settlements or villages. In a tribe, men, women and children divided work among themselves. While women took care of agricultural activities, men usually led large herds. A tribe usually had some leaders. They were old and experienced persons or young and brave warriors. Old women were respected for their wisdom. Tribes had their own cultural traditions, gods, goddesses, language, music, stories and paintings. Tribes typically considered land, forests, grasslands and water as the wealth of the entire tribe.

15. Name the archaeological site located near Bolan Pass

Mehrgarh

16. ……………………… is a site near Brahmaputra Valley

Daojali Hading

17. Catal Huyuk is a Neolithic site in ……………………………..

Turkey

Class 6 History Chapter 3 From Gathering To Growing Food | Textbook Questions And Answers

1. Why do people who grow crops have to stay in the same place for a long time?

It takes several weeks or even months for crops to grow and ripen. As a result, people who grow crops had to stay in the same place to look after the plants, water them and drive away the birds and animals that come to eat them.

2. Look at the table on page 25. If Neinuo wanted to eat rice, which are the places she should have visited? (Refer textbook page number 25)

Koldihwa, Mahagara

3. Why archaeologists believe that many people who lived in Mehrgarh were hunters to start with and that herding became more important later?

Archaeologists who excavated the site found evidence of many different kinds of animal bones from the earliest levels. In the lowest levels there were more bones of wild animals like deer and pig. This obviously showed that they used to hunt these animals for food. In higher levels they found more bones of sheep and goat and in the highest levels cattle bones were the most common. That means herding became more important than hunting at later levels.

4. State whether true or false

a) Millets have been found at Hallur – true

b) People in Burzahom lived in rectangular houses – false (They lived in pit houses)

c) Chirand is a site in Kashmir – false (They lived in Bihar)

d) Jadeite, found in Daojali Hading, may have been brought from China – true