NCERT Solutions for Class 6th Social Science Chapter 4 Timeline And Sources Of History
Updated on 2026-09-19
About this chapter
History is the study of the human past. Many kinds of specialists dig it out: geologists (the physical Earth), palaeontologists (fossils), anthropologists (human societies and cultures) and archaeologists (remains left behind by people, plants and animals) — Fig. 4.2. Modern humans ( Homo sapiens ) have been here only about 300,000 years , a tiny sliver of the Earth's 4.54-billion-year story (Fig. 4.1). Time is measured in eras. The Gregorian calendar is used worldwide, alongside Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Chinese and other calendars for festivals and auspicious events. Years after the conventional date of Jesus' birth were marked AD and are now called CE (Common Era) ; years before it were marked BC and are now BCE (Before Common Era) . India became independent in 1947 CE ; the Buddha was bor
- Chapter opening
- How Do We Learn About the Past?
- How Is Time Measured in History?
- Don't Miss Out
- Making your own timeline
- What Are the Sources of History?
- Reading three objects as sources
- The Beginnings of Human History
- The First Crops
- The chapter in four points
Quick revision
| Term | What it means | Where it appears in the chapter | Example from the book |
|---|---|---|---|
| History | The study of the human past | Margin note, page 60 | E.H. Carr: “an unending dialogue between the present and the past” |
| Fossils | Impressions of footprints, or parts of plants or animals, preserved within layers of soil or rocks | Margin note, page 61 | Studied by palaeontologists (Fig. 4.2.2) |
| Archaeologist | A person who studies the past by digging up remains that people, plants and animals left behind | Page 61, Fig. 4.2.4 | Tools, pots, beads, figurines, toys, bones, burnt grains, bricks |
| Era | A distinct period of time | Margin note, page 61 | The Common Era, which begins at 1 CE |
| Gregorian calendar | The calendar now used the world over; 12 months adding up to 365 days, and a leap year every four years | Margin note, page 62 | 1800 and 1900 are not leap years; 2000 is |
| CE — Common Era | Years counted forward from the conventional year of Jesus' birth; earlier written AD | Page 62 | 1947 CE — the year India gained independence |
| BCE — Before Common Era | Years counted backward from that same point; earlier written BC | Page 62 | 560 BCE — approximate year of the Buddha's birth |
| Timeline | A tool that shows a sequence of dates and events covering a particular period | Pages 62–64, Fig. 4.3 | Fig. 4.3 runs from 300,000 BCE to 2000 CE; the dotted part is a skipped period |
| Century / Millennium | Any period of 100 years / any period of 1,000 years | Don't Miss Out, pages 64–65 | 21st century CE = 2001–2100; 3rd millennium CE = 2001–3000 |
| Pañchānga | An Indian book of tables listing the days of each month with related astronomical data | Don't Miss Out, page 65 | Predicts eclipses, sunrise and sunset, festival dates, weather |
| Source of history | A place, person, text or object from which we gather information about some past event or period | Margin note, page 66 | Inscriptions, coins, monuments, manuscripts, folklore |
| Historian | A person who studies and writes about the past | Margin note, page 68 | Gathers as many sources as possible and decides which to trust |
| Genetics | The branch of biology that studies how features and characteristics pass from one generation to the next | Margin note, page 68 | Genetic studies of ancient people give fresh insights |
| Afterlife | A life that begins after death | Margin note, page 70 | Early humans possibly had some notion of it |
| Hamlet | A small settlement or small village | Margin note, page 73 | Hamlets grew into sizeable villages that exchanged goods |
Exercises
- Chapter opening — The Big Questions Page 59
- How Do We Learn About the Past? — THINK ABOUT IT Page 60
- How Is Time Measured in History? — In-text Questions Page 62
- How Is Time Measured in History? — LET'S EXPLORE Page 63
- Don't Miss Out — In-text Questions Page 65
- Making your own timeline — LET'S EXPLORE Page 65
- What Are the Sources of History? — LET'S EXPLORE Page 66
- What Are the Sources of History? — In-text Questions Page 66
- What Are the Sources of History? — THINK ABOUT IT Page 67
- Reading three objects as sources — LET'S EXPLORE Page 68–69
- The Beginnings of Human History — LET'S EXPLORE Page 70
- The First Crops — LET'S EXPLORE Page 71
- The First Crops — THINK ABOUT IT Page 72
- The chapter in four points — Before we move on … Page 73
- End-of-chapter exercise — Questions, activities and projects Page 74