Q1.
In the above picture, look at some activities of early humans in a rock shelter. Which ones can you recognise? Give a brief description for each.
Answer
The picture on page 70 shows a whole community at work under an overhanging rock. Here are the activities that can be recognised in it:
| Activity in the picture | Description |
|---|---|
| Painting on the rock wall | A man stands with his arm raised, painting on the rock face. Above him the wall is already covered with black figures — a row of cattle, a hunter, and human figures that look like dancers. These are the rock paintings the chapter describes, found in hundreds of caves all over the world. |
| Preparing colours | Two people bend over a large stone bowl, crushing lumps into powder. Paint had to be made from coloured earth and minerals ground fine and mixed — so the painting on the wall depended on this quieter work. |
| Sitting round a fire | A group is gathered round a blazing fire, one of them stretching a hand towards it. Fire gave warmth, light after dark, protection from animals and cooked food — the chapter says plainly that early humans used fire. |
| Making stone tools | Several people kneel on the floor of the shelter striking one stone against another. This is tool-making: improved stone axes and blades, arrowheads and scrapers, shaped by chipping flakes off a core. |
| Sharpening or finishing a tool | A man stands at the right, working a blade with both hands — grinding or trimming an edge that has already been roughed out. |
| Children watching and copying | Two children sit apart with small pieces in their hands, doing what the adults are doing. Nobody in the picture is teaching from a book; skills passed on by watching and imitating. |
| Living in a group | The most important “activity” of all: everyone is together in one shelter, each doing a different job. The chapter says early humans lived in bands or groups to help each other against the challenges of nature. |
Why a rock shelter and not a house: these people were hunters and gatherers, constantly on the move in search of food. A natural overhang gave shelter from rain and sun for nothing — no building, no carrying. Houses come later in the chapter, only after farming ties people to one place.
Did you know? India has one of the world's great collections of this rock art at the Bhimbetka rock shelters in Madhya Pradesh — hundreds of shelters painted with animals, hunters, dancers and drummers. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is exactly the kind of scene the artist of this picture was imagining.