On The Trail of the Earliest People 

Q21. Where Ostrich egg shells were found in India in the Palaeolithic Age?

Ans. Ostriches were found in India during the Palaeolithic period. Large quantities of ostrich egg shells were found at Patne in Maharashtra.

Q22. Collecting plant produce needs lot precautions. Why?

Ans. To collect plant produce, you need to find out which plants or parts of plants are edible, that is, can be eaten, as many can be poisonous.

Q23. Find out the states where Bhimbetka, Hunsgi and Kurnool are located?

Ans. Bhimbetka – Madhya Pradesh

       Hunsgi - Karnataka

       Kurnool – Andhra Pradesh

Q24. Traces of ash have been found in Kurnool caves. What it suggests?

Ans. Traces of ash have been found here. This suggests that people were familiar with the use of fire. Fire could have been used for many things: as a source of light, to cook meat, and to scare away animals.

Q25. What led to the development of grasslands?

Ans. Around 12,000 years ago there were major changes in the climate of the world, with a shift to relatively warm conditions. In many areas, this led to the development of grasslands.

Q26. What do you understand by sites?

Ans. Sites are places where the remains of things (tools, pots, buildings etc.) were found. These may be found on the surface of the earth, buried under the earth, or sometimes even under water.

Q27. List three ways in which hunter-gatherers used fire. Would you use fire for any of these purposes today?

Ans. Fire could have been used for many things: as a source of light, to cook meat, and to scare away animals.

Today, we use fire for cooking food and to keep ourselves warm.

Q28. Many paintings show hunting scenes in which the animals are shown struck with arrows and spears. Why do you think early men made such paintings?

Ans. It is possible that these paintings were done on ceremonial occasions. Or perhaps they were made for special rituals, performed by hunters before they went in search of prey.

Q29. Write one point of difference between perennial and seasonal rivers?

Ans. Difference between perennial and seasonal rivers

Q30. What were stone tools used for?

Ans. 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.

Q31. Write a note on habitation-cum-factory sites.

Ans. We usually 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.

Q32. Is there any way of finding out whether women hunted, or men made stone tools, whether women painted or men gathered fruits and nuts?

Ans. At present, we do not really know. However, there are at least two possibilities. It is likely that both men and women may have done many of these things together. It is also possible that some tasks were done only by women and others only by men.