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Class 6 History & Civics — Early humans and the first crops

Describe how early humans lived as hunters and gatherers, and follow what changed after the last Ice Age when people began to farm, settle and build the first towns.

Name: ________________________

Before you start

A rock shelter wall, and the parts of the painting on it.

123
  1. 1. Symbol
  2. 2. Figure
  3. 3. Animal

A star-like symbol on the left, a stick figure with arms and legs in the middle, a four-legged animal with horns on the right. The chapter says some rock paintings hold simple figures or a few symbols, and others show whole scenes with animals or humans — this wall has both kinds on it.

  1. 1.The chapter ends this stretch of the story with a caution about how safe early human progress was. What does it say?

    • a) Each new technology made the next one certain to arrive
    • b) At some critical times humanity could have almost disappeared, as some earlier species did
    • c) Progress was steady once fire had been mastered
    • d) The Ice Ages were the last serious danger humanity faced

  2. 2.The chapter says early humans were mainly hunters and gatherers. What does that mean they relied on?

    • a) Sowing cereals in fields they had cleared
    • b) Trading food with the villages nearby
    • c) Keeping cattle and goats near their camps
    • d) Hunting, and collecting edible plants and fruits

  3. 3.Early humans communicated with each other using languages that are now ______. Which word completes the sentence, and is the reason nothing they said reaches us?

  4. 4.Sort each of these into the way of life it belongs to.

    Groups: Hunter-gatherer life · Farming life

    • settlements beside rivers, where the soil is more fertile
    • domesticated cattle and goats
    • temporary camps, rock shelters or caves
    • hunting, and collecting edible plants and fruits
    • stone axes, blades and arrowheads
    • cultivating cereals and grains

  5. 5.The last Ice Age lasted from over 100,000 years ago until roughly when?

    • a) Around 300,000 years ago
    • b) Around 12,000 years ago
    • c) Around 100 years ago
    • d) Around 1,000 years ago

  6. 6.Match each word the chapter explains to what it means.

    • Ice Age
    • hamlet
    • welfare
    • afterlife
    • a life that begins after death
    • a time when much of the Earth was covered with ice
    • health, prosperity and well-being
    • a small settlement or small village

  7. 7.The chapter says the use of metal helped make three kinds of thing. Which three?

    • a) Ploughs, boats and grain stores
    • b) Durable tools, objects of daily use and ornaments
    • c) Pots, bricks and roof tiles
    • d) Weapons, coins and seals

  8. 8.Modern humans have walked the planet for about how many years? Find the point on this line.

    Mark the line with an X.

    0100000200000300000400000

Answer key — Class 6 History & Civics — Early humans and the first crops

  1. 1. b) At some critical times humanity could have almost disappeared, as some earlier species did
  2. 2. d) Hunting, and collecting edible plants and fruits
  3. 3. lost
  4. 4. temporary camps, rock shelters or caves → Hunter-gatherer life; hunting, and collecting edible plants and fruits → Hunter-gatherer life; stone axes, blades and arrowheads → Hunter-gatherer life; cultivating cereals and grains → Farming life; domesticated cattle and goats → Farming life; settlements beside rivers, where the soil is more fertile → Farming life
  5. 5. b) Around 12,000 years ago
  6. 6. Ice Age → a time when much of the Earth was covered with ice; hamlet → a small settlement or small village; welfare → health, prosperity and well-being; afterlife → a life that begins after death
  7. 7. b) Durable tools, objects of daily use and ornaments
  8. 8. 300000