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economy of this period was based upon agricul- quakes and weather changes. Being ignorant of
ture, stock raising, hunting and fishing. Limited their causes, he worshiped all of them. Thus, the
number of copper and bronze. sky, sun, rain, thunder, lightning, earthquakes,
g The presence of painted pottery is a hall floods, etc. were worshipped by him.
mark of the Chalcolithic period. Death was another mystery for early man. He
g The burial practice was another striking thought of it as a long journey for early man. He
feature and the dead were buried in a thought of it as a long journey from which no
particular direction all over a particular one returns. So, all necessities of travel and
area. survival such as pottery, weapons, etc. were
placed inside the dead person’s grave.
g The largest site of the Chalcolithic period is
Sometimes, the grave was lined with large slabs
Diamabad situated on the left bank of the
of stone. Many such graves have been found
Pravara River.
from sites all over the country. The dead were
g The pottery ranges from red ware, deep red
also worshipped by early man.
ware to deep brown and black, pictographic
By the end of the Chalcolithic period, man lived
red and black and polished red.
a secure, comfortable and organised life. From a
SOCIAL LIFE
food-gatherer, he had become a food-producer.
Early man was fascinated by nature and its But, he still did not know how to write. It was
mysteries. Since he did not understand mysteries, only after cities came into existence that the skill
and natural phenomena, he was afraid of them. of writing developed.
He was afraid of lightening and thunder, earth-
CASE STUDY— THE NORTH-WEST Period II (5,500 – 4,800 BC) Period III
Mehrgarh (4,800 – 3,500 BC) : Pottery makes its
Mehrgarh (in Pakistan) is the earliest known appearance in Period II. A lot of evidence of
farming and pastoral settlement. The earliest manufacturing activity has also been found.
evidence of settlement dates from 7,000 BC. Glazed faience beads were produced. Terracotta
Archaeologists have divided the site into several figurines became more detailed. Figurines of
periods. females had diverse hairstyles and ornaments
were decorated with paint. The amount of burial
Period I (7,000 – 5,500 BC) : Wheat and
goods decreased over time, becoming limited to
barley were cultivated and were perhaps the
ornaments. There were evidence that people
main crops. Farmers had herds of cattle, sheep
exchanged their goods with other people.
and goat. There were simple mud structures. No
pottery has been found. Numerous burials, that Burazhom
have been found, contain many goods. A stone Burzahom was the first Neolithic site to be
axe was discovered in a burial and several more discovered in Jammu & Kashmir. People here
were obtained from the surface. Ornaments of grew crops. Seeds of wheat, barley and different
sea shell, limestone, turquoise, lapis lazuli, kind of lentils have been found. Animals were
sandstone and polished copper have been found, also domesticated and pottery was made.
along with figurines of women and animals.
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