The Life of the Ancient Man

 The Life of the Ancient Man

In the beginning , man lived in forests . He felt the need to protect himself from wild animals . Therefore , using his intelligence , he began to devise weapons out of wood , stone and bones . Of these , the stone tools were not perishable and they are found today on a large scale . This early period is therefore named as the ' Stone Age ' .

Many stone tools and weapons have been found in excavations . During the Stone Age , man steadily made progress in the technique of making tools and weapons . The Stone Age is divided into two periods - the Palaeolithic or the Old Stone Age and the Neolithic or the New Stone Age . The Neolithic Age began about ten thousand years ago . During this period , man learnt the technique of agriculture and domestication of animals . He also discovered metals . In the course of time , along with stone implements , he began to devise metal artefacts , too .

Food

Man used to eat fruits , roots and flesh . He hunted small animals and also knew fishing . In the course of time , he learnt the use of fire for cooking food. 

Agriculture

Usually , it was men who went hunting and made tools and weapons . Women gathered fruits and roots , took care of the foodstuff and prepared food . Women learnt through observation that new plants sprout from seeds that fall on the ground . That is how agriculture - sowing and cultivating grains began in the Neolithic Age . Later , agriculture became the prime occupation of man .

Man cultivated cereals like rice , barley , wheat , bajra and jowar . He also cultivated legumes like peas , gram , green gram , lentil etc. He used stone or wooden hoes or stag horns to plough the land . Thus , man who was a food gatherer , became a producer of food . That is why human life became stable in the Neolithic Age .

Domestication of animals

Man began to keep herds of animals like cattle , goats , sheep , pigs and donkeys . He began to use animals for agriculture .

Technology of making weapons , tools and implements

Initially , man made his tools and weapons by chipping and cutting stones , bones and wood . Hand axes , cutting tools were the implements of the Stone Age man . Later , he began to make tools and weapons which had thin and straight blades . He used flint for this purpose . These tools were fitted with wooden or bone handles . These tools made various tasks possible . Sharp tools were used to tear the hide and pointed tools were used to make holes . Bones , fishbones , ivory , horns , etc were used for making needles , arrowheads , fish hooks and other implements .

Stone Age tools and weapons

Art and craft

Paintings made by the ancient man on the walls of caves have been found . Some of them depict scenes of hunting . We also find depictions of community dancing and of various animals .

Shells , conches , ivory , beads were used for making ornaments .

During the Neolithic Age , man began to make earthen or clay models of animals and human beings . It was during this period that man invented the wheel . The wheel was used for transport and for making earthen pots . The invention of the wheel accelerated the progress of mankind .

Ancient cave - painting - Bhimbetka

Village - settlement

Human life became stable during the Neolithic Age . People began to build their houses close together for the purpose of protection and convenience . This gave rise to ' village - settlements ' .

Emergence of of urban civilization

Besides agriculture , other occupations gradually emerged . Surplus of agricultural produce and other goods gave rise to trade . In places convenient for trade , towns developed . That is how the foundation of urban civilization was laid . Such urban civilizations arose on the banks of rivers . In India , urban civilization emerged in the Indus valley during this period . Urban civilizations also existed in the basins of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris in Asia and the Nile in Africa .

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