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Early Human
The earth is more than 4.5 billion years old. But age is known as the Stone Age. The stone Age is
life, in the form of plants and animals, appeared divided into four periods — Paleolithic, Mesolithic,
on the earth much later. And man came about Neolithic and Chalcolithic.
1.5 million years ago. He went through a long PALAEOLITHIC AGE
evolutionary period. As a result of this evolution,
(500,000 – 10,000 BC)
modern man appeared on the earth as recently
The Old Stone Age lasted approximately from
as 40,000 years ago.
500,000 BC to 10,000 BC. It is generally divided
In the beginning, man lived like animals. His life into three periods — Early (Lower Paleolithic),
was similar to that of his ancestors — the apes. Middle (Middle Paleolithic) and Late (Upper
He was a food gatherer and ate whatever he
Paleolithic) — based on the quality of stone tools
could find around him — wild fruits, roots, small
used.
insects and worms. He slept on trees or in caves.
Historians call the early period of human history
Life was very difficult as man was always in
the Stone Age. They do this because it was the
danger of being eaten by wild animals.
time when people used stone to make tools and
weapons. The earliest part of this period was the
Paleolithic (pay lee uh lih thick) Age. In Greek,
paleolithic means “old stone.” Therefore, the
Paleolithic Age is also called the Old Stone Age.
The Paleolithic Age began about 2.5 million
years ago and lasted until around 8000 BC.
Remember, that is about 4,500 years earlier than
recorded time, which starts about 5,500 years
ago.
Stages in the Evolution of Man
During the Paleolithic period, man lived like a
In the initial stages of his developments, man nomad. He did not know how to grow vegeta-
walked like apes. Gradually, he learned to stand bles or grains. He was primarily a food-gatherer
erect on his feet. This helped him to see farther and moved from one place to another in search
in all directions. His hands, too, were free now, of food and shelter. Once, the food supply in an
so he could hold things better. He could pick-up area was exhausted, he moved on to settle in a
and throw things to defend himself. Slowly, he different area. To protect himself from wild
learned to make tools. The early tools were made animals, he moved in small groups. He always
of stone, since it was easily available. Since lived close to rivers so that he could get a suffi-
stones were used on a large scale, the prehistoric cient supply of water.
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