From Gathering to Growing Food

• The Earliest People

  • Why they moved
    • Exhaustion of plant and animal resources
    • Following animal movements
    • Seasonal search for different plants
    • Search for water sources
  • How we know about them
    • Archaeological evidence
    • Tools made of stone, wood, and bone
    • Uses of tools: cutting meat, digging roots, chopping wood

• Making Stone Tools

  • Stone on Stone technique
  • Pressure flaking

• Finding Fire

  • Traces found in Kurnool caves
  • Uses of fire:
    • Source of light
    • Cooking meat
    • Scaring away dangerous animals

• Changing Environment

  • Around 12,000 years ago: major shift to relatively warm climate
  • Development of grasslands
  • Increase in herbivorous animals (deer, antelope, sheep, goat, cattle)
  • People observed animal habits and breeding seasons

• Beginning of Agriculture and Herding

  • Domestication of plants and animals
  • First crops grown: wheat and barley
  • First animals domesticated: sheep and goat
  • Shift from food gatherers to food producers

• A New Way of Life

  • Domestication Process
    • Selecting plants/animals with desired traits
    • Protecting plants from diseases and animals
  • Storing Food
    • Clay pots, woven baskets, digging pits in the ground
  • Animals as "Rearing Store"
    • Provide milk, meat, and act as a walking food reserve

• Towards a Settled Life

  • Houses and Pits
    • Pit-houses found in Burzahom (Kashmir)
  • Earthen Pots used for cooking and storage
  • Weaving cloth using materials like cotton

• A Closer Look: Domestication in Archaeology

  • Grain and Bone Finds
    • Mehrgarh (near Bolan Pass)
    • Daojali Hading (Assam)
  • Key sites with evidence of farming and herding:
    • Mehrgarh
    • Burzahom
    • Mahagara and Palaeolithic sites (like Bhimbetka, Hunsgi)
    • Koldihwa

• Tribal Life

  • Customs and traditions
  • Leaders, priests, and rich cultural expressions (paintings, music)
  • Division of labor among men, women, and children

• Case Study: Mehrgarh

  • Located near fertile plain
  • One of the earliest villages
  • Growing barley and wheat
  • Rearing sheep and goats
  • House remains: square or rectangular
  • Burial customs: belief in life after death (burial with goats)