Choosing a Place


 
 
Concept Explanation
 

Choosing a Place

Choosing a Place: People who lived in the subcontinent as early as two million years ago. We were described as hunter- gatherers. The name comes from the way in which they got their food. Generally, they hunted wild animals, caught fish and birds, gathered fruits, roots, nuts, seeds, leaves, stalks and eggs. The immense variety of plant in a tropical land like India meant that gathering plant produce was an extremely important means of obtaining food. There are at least four reasons why hunters – gatherers moved from place to place.

  • ·   First, if they had stayed at one place for a long time, they would have eaten up all the available plant and animal resources. Therefore, they would have had to go elsewhere in search of food.
  • ·   Second, animal move from place to place- either in search of smaller prey, or in the case of deer and wild cattle, in search of grass and leaves.
  • ·   Thirdly, plants and trees bear fruit in different seasons. So, people may have moved from season to season in search of different kinds of plants.
  • ·   Fourth, people, plants and animals need water to survive. Water is found in lakes, streams and rivers. While many rivers and lakes are perennial (with water throughout the year) others are seasonal. People living on their banks would have had to go in search of water during the dry seasons (winter and summer).
  • How do we know about these people?: Archaeologists have found some of the things hunter-gatherers made and used. It is likely that people made and used tools of stone, wood and bone, of which stone tools have survived best.

    Some of these stone tools were used to cut meat and bone, scrape bark (from trees) and hides (animal skins), chop fruit and roots. Some may have been  attached to handles of bone or wood, to make spears and arrows for hunting. Other tools were used to chop wood, which was used as firewood. Wood was also used to make huts and tools.

    Choosing a place to live in: As stone tools were important, people tried to find places where good quality stone was easily available. Places where stone was found and where people made tools are known as factory sites. Usually, we find blocks of stone, tools that were made and perhaps discarded because they were not perfect, and chips of waste stone left behind at these sites. Sometimes, people lived here for longer spells of time. These sites are called habitation- cum- factory sites.

     
     
     


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