RBSE Class 6 Social Science Chapter 4 Question Answer Timeline and Sources of History

Start practicing the RBSE Solutions Class 6 Social Science and Class 6 SST Chapter 4 Timeline and Sources of History Question Answer to consolidate your knowledge effectively.

Timeline and Sources of History Class 6 Questions and Answers

Timeline and Sources of History Class 6 Question Answer (InText)

Page 59

Question 1.
How do we measure historical time?
Answer:
We measure historical time from the birth of Jesus Christ. Years are counted from this point and used to mark with AD. It is now called ‘Common Era’ or CE.

For example, 1947, the year India got independence can be written as 1947 AD or 1947 CE.

Similarly, the years before the birth of Jesus Christ are counted backward and used to mark as BC or Before Common Era or BCE. For example, 560 BCE is an approximate year of birth of Gautama Buddha. It means Gautama Buddha was born 560 + 2024 – 1 = 2583 years ago.

Question 2.
How can various sources help us understand history?
Answer:
We collect information about past through various sources. When historians study, say, a king or queen of 1500 years ago, an ancient monument, a war or some items of trade, they take care to gather information from various sources which they can find and consult. This is how they try to reconstruct the history of the period they are studying. Along with historians, archaeologists study the past by excavating the remains left behind by humans, animals and birds. ‘Rtey also study ancient records, anthropologists study human societies and their cultures, palaeontologists study fossils of trees, animals and humans from millions of years ago, geologists study the physical features of the Earth to know about history.

Question 3.
How did early humans live?
Answer:
Early humans lived in groups to help each other. They were mainly hunters and food gatherers. They relied on hunting, edible plants and fruits for their survival. These groups lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves. They used fire and started making objects to make their lives easier like stone axes, blades, arrow heads and other tools. These early humans learned to make simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads, pendants made of animal teeth and sometimes exchanged them with other groups also.

Page 60

Question 1.
How do you think understanding the past will help us understand the present world?
Answer:
History is continuous communication between the past and present. It is also a bridge between the societies of past and present. Hence, we can understand the past to know about present.

Page 67

Question 1.
Have you ever seen old coins, books, clothes, jewellery or utensils in and around your house? What type of information can we gain from such objects? Or from old houses of buildings?
Answer:
Yes, we have seen old coins, books, clothes, jewellery or utensils in and around our houses. We can collect following type of information from these objects.

Coins tells us about the kings, the extent of their empire etc. Books provide us information about the ancient life, living conditions, food habits etc. Old buildings and monuments inform us about the types of houses and their construction techniques.

Page 70

Question 1.
In the above picture (Pg. 70 of textbook), look at some activities of early humans in a rock shelter. Which ones can you recognize? Give a brief description for each.
Answer:
In this rock shelter, a woman is making rock painting depicting hunting scene by early humans. Second picture has images of animals. In left side fire can be seen. Probably meat obtained by hunting is being roasted here. Bottom of the picture shows that meat is being removed from the animal brought home. Two boys are eating something.

Page 71

Question 1.
Observe the scene on the page no. 72. It depicts an agricultural community from a few millenniums ago. List the main activities you can identify.
Answer:

1. At the top of image in right side, we can see hamlets of farming community.
2. A farmer is cutting woods into pieces with the help of a tool similar to an axe.
3. Two children are playing outside the houses.
4. The woman is cooking something in an earthen pot and probably kneading dough in another pot.
5. A man with a hammer on his shoulder is walking with sheep and dog.
6. Harvesting of crop can also be seen here and a man and a woman are making bundles of harvested crop and another man and woman are carrying it on their heads.
7. In left side, domesticated animals like cows are grazing.

Class 6 SST Timeline and Sources of History Question Answer (Exercise)

Question 1.
As a project, write the history of your family (or village if you live in one), using sources of history at your disposal. Ask your teacher to guide you.
Answer:
Students can find history of their village/family with the help of their teachers.

Question 2.
Can we compare historians to detectives? Give reasons for your answers.
Answer:
Yes, we can compare historians to detectives because detectives bring hidden information from various sources and places in the same way historians collect information from various sources of history and provide it to study the past.

Question 3.
A few exercises with dates :
(i) Place these dates chronologically on the timeline : 323 CE, 323 BCE, 100 CE, 100 BCE, 1900 BCE, 1090 CE, 2024 CE.
Answer:

(ii) If King Chandragupta was born in 320 CE, which century did he belong to? And how many years was that after the Buddha’s birth?
Answer:
King Chandragupta was bom in 4th century CE. Gautama Buddha was bom in 560 BCE and King Chandragupta was bom in 320 CE. Hence, king Chandragupta was bom (560 – 320) 240 years after the the birth of Gautama Buddha.

(iii) Rani of Jhansi was bom in 1828. Which century did she belong to? How many years was that before India’s Independence?
Answer:
Rani of Jhansi was born in the 19th century. She was born 119 years before India’s Independence (1947).

(iv) Turn ‘12,000 years ago’ into a date.
Answer:
12000 years ago means 12000 years ago from today.
We are in year 2025, the calculation will be = 12000 – 2025 + 1 = 9976 BCE.
Hence, 12000 years ago will be the year 9976 BCE.

Question 4.
Plan a visit to a nearby museum: the visit should be prepared with some prior research on the kind of exhibits the museum holds. Keep notes during the visit Write a brief report afterwards, highlighting what was unexpected / interesting / fun about the visit and the exhibits.
Answer:
Students will visit a nearby museum and they will write a brief report showing interesting facts about the visit.

Question 5.
Invite to your school an archaeologist or a historian and ask them to speak on the history of your region and why it’s important to know it.
Answer:
Students will do themselves with the help of class teacher.

Timeline and Sources of History Class 6 Extra Questions and Answers Social Science Chapter 4

Multiple Choice Questions

1. The physical features of the Earth are studied by ………………….. .
(a) Palaeontologist
(b) Geologist
(c) Anthropologist
(d) Archaeologist
Answer:
(b) Geologist

2. Human societies and culture from the past to the present are studied by ………………….. .
(a) Archaeologist
(b) Geologist
(c) Anthropologist
(d) Palaeontologist
Answer:
(c) Anthropologist

3. Which calendar is used around the world presently to calculate time?
(a) Gregorian Calendar
(b) Muslim Calendar
(c) Chinese Calendar
(d) Hindu Calendar
Answer:
(a) Gregorian Calendar

4. In the west, the conventional year for ………………….. birth has generally been taken to be the starting point for calendar.
(a) Socrates’s
(b) Jesus Christ’s
(c) Plato’s
(d) Aristotle’s
Answer:
(b) Jesus Christ’s

5. Which among the following is an oral source to collect historical information?
(a) Folklore
(b) Poems and plays
(c) Scientific and technological tents
(d) Historical chronicles
Answer:
(a) Folklore

6. Which among the following is not an archaeological source?
(a) Sculptures
(b) Excavations
(c) Mounds
(d) Monuments
Answer:
(a) Sculptures

7. Homo sapiens have walked the planet for about ………………….. years.
(a) 10 lakh
(b) 1 crore
(c) 3 lakh
(d) 15 lakh
Answer:
(c) 3 lakh

8. Early humans discovered fire before ………………….. .
(a) 3 lakh years
(b) 6500 year
(c) 15 lakh years
(d) 10 lakh years
Answer:
(d) 10 lakh years

9. Early humans lived in
(a) caves
(b) huts
(c) kutcha houses
(d) pucca houses
Answer:
(a) caves

10. ………………….. is not an artistic source of history.
(a) Genealogy
(b) Painting
(c) Panel
(d) Sculpture
Answer:
(a) Genealogy

Fill in the blanks

1. The Earth has a very long history, of which we humans occupy only a tiny part-the most ………………….. .
Answer:
recent one

2. ………………….. are impressions of footprints, or parts of plants or animals that are found preserved within layers of soil or rocks.
Answer:
Fossils

3. ………………….. is any period of 100 years.
Answer:
Century

4. A person who studies and writes about the past is known as ………………….. .
Answer:
historian

5. Early humans were mainly hunters and ………………….. gatherers.
Answer:
food

6. The last ………………….. lasted from over (one lakh) years ago to twelve thousand years ago.
Answer:
Ice Age

State whether True or False

1. Early humans lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves in groups.
Answer:
True

2. At present, the Gregorian calendar is only commonly used for calculating dates of festivals and other auspicious events.
Answer:
False

3. In the west, the conventional year for Vikramaditya’s birth has been taken to be the starting point for calendar.
Answer:
False

4. Timeline shows dates and events covering any particular period.
Answer:
True

Match the following

Question 1.

I	II
1. A.D.	(a) Refers to the time period before the birth of Jesus Christ
2. B.C.	(b) Refers to the time period after the birth of Jesus Christ
3. Century	(c) Period of 1000 years
4. Millennium	(d) Monuments
5. Source of history	(e) Period of 100 years

Answer:

I	II
1. A.D.	(b) Refers to the time period after the birth of Jesus Christ
2. B.C.	(a) Refers to the time period before the birth of Jesus Christ
3. Century	(e) Period of 100 years
4. Millennium	(c) Period of 1000 years
5. Source of history	(d) Monuments

Question 2.

I	II
1. Oral sources	(a) Newspaper
2. Literary sources	(b) Folklore
3. Artistic sources	(c) Poems and plays
4. Archaeological sources	(d) Panel
5. Sources of modem history	(e) Material obtained from excavation

Answer:

I	II
1. Oral sources	(b) Folklore
2. Literary sources	(c) Poems and plays
3. Artistic sources	(d) Panel
4. Archaeological sources	(e) Material obtained from excavation
5. Sources of modem history	(a) Newspaper

Very Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is meant by history?
Answer:
History is the study of the human past.

Question 2.
When did fish vertebrates appear on earth?
Answer:
About 475 million years ago.

Question 3.
How long have the early humans (primates) being living on earth?
Answer:
Approx. 10 million years ago.

Question 4.
When was fire discovered by early humans?
Answer:
About ten million years ago.

Question 5.
When did humans start to write on earth?
Answer:
About 6500 years ago.

Question 6.
What are fossils?
Answer:
Fossils are impressions of footprints or parts of plants or animals that are found preserved within layers of soil or rocks.

Question 7.
Who are geologists?
Answer:
Geologists study the physical features of the Earth like the soil, stones, hills, mountains, rivers, seas, oceans and other such parts of the Earth.

Question 8.
On which factors did early humans depend for their survival?
Answer:
Early humans were dependent on edible plants and fruits. They were hunters and food gatherers.

Question 9.
Where did early humans live?
Answer:
Early humans lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves.

Question 10.
How did early humans make their lives easier?
Answer:
Early humans used fire and started making objects like stone axes, arrow heads, blades and other tools to make their lives easier.

Question 11.
What kinds of ornaments were prepared by the early humans?
Answer:
Simple ornaments such as stone or shell beads, pendants made of animal teeth were prepared by the early humans.

Question 12.
What was the extent of the Ice Age?
Answer:
The last Ice Age lasted from over 100,000 (one lakh) years ago to around 12,000 years ago.

Question 13.
Where did the early humans first settle?
Answer:
At first early humans settled near rivers.

Question 14.
Why did the early humans settle near rivers?
Answer:
The early humans settled near rivers due to availability of water and fertility of soil.

Question 15.
What did the early humans start doing after settling down at a place?
Answer:
They started to cultivate cereals and grains and domesticated animals such as cattle, goats etc.

Short Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
Who are geologists?
Answer:
Geologists study the physical features of the Earth, like the soil, stones, hills, mountains, rivers, seas, oceans and other such parts of the Earth.

Question 2.
What do palaeontologists study?
Answer:
Palaeontologists study the remains of plants, animals and humans from millions of years ago in the form of fossils.

Fossils are impressions of footprints or parts of plants or animals that are found preserved within layers of soil or rocks.

Question 3.
What do you mean by anthropologists?
Answer:
Anthropologists are the scientists who study human societies and cultures from the oldest times to the present.

Question 4.
How do archaeologists study past?
Answer:
Archaeologists study the past by digging up remains that people, plants and animals left behind, such as tools, pots, beads, figurines, toys, bones and teeth of animals and humans, burnt grains, parts of houses or bricks, among others.

Question 5.
Why is the timeline a convenient tool for marking the past events?
Answer:
A timeline is a convenient tool to mark the past events as it shows a sequence of dates and events covering any particular period.

Question 6.
Give the meaning of century. Write the process of its calculation in history.
Answer:
Century : Century is any period of 100 years. In history, specific centuries are counted every 100 years starting from the year 1 CE. For instance, we are currently in the 21st century CE which runs from 2001 to 2100. The centuries BCE are calculated beginning from the year 1 BCE and keep going back in time.

Question 7.
Define the term ‘Genetics’!
Answer:
Genetics : The branch of biology that studies how, in plants, animals or humans, certain features and characteristics get passed down from one generation to the next.

Question 8.
What are the various sources of history? Who help to read them?
Answer:
There are various sources of history to study about the past such as oral, literary, artistic and archaeological sources. Historians, archaeologists, epigraphists, anthropologists, experts in literature and languages all contribute to read them.

Long Answer Type Questions

Question 1.
What is Gregorian calendar?
Answer:
In the west, the conventional year for Jesus Christ’s birth has been taken the starting point of the Gregorian calendar. The calendar now used the world over, it has 12 months adding upto 365 days and a leap year every four years. Years divided by 4 are only leap year.

Question 2.
Timeline is a convenient tool to show historical events in a sequence. How? Explain with example.
Answer:
Timeline is a convenient tool to show historical events in a sequence. For example in the given timeline, even without looking at dates, we can see that the birth of Buddha occurs before that of Jesus.

Note : This timeline is given on page-no. 64 of textbook. Mark according to it.

Question 3.
What is meant by ‘Sources of History’? Enlist the archaeological sources of history.
Answer:
Sources of history : A place, person, text or an object from which we gather information about some past event or period.

Archaeological sources of history : Archaeological sources of history are :
(1) Inscriptions : Manuscripts, copper plates, coins

(2) Structures : Monuments, mounds

(3) Excavations : Human, animal and plant remains, tooth and weapons, figurines and ornaments, pottery and toys, habitation and burials.

Question 4.
“In the last 50 years or so, scientific studies have been contributing more and more to the reconstruction of the past;” Justify the statement with example.
Answer:
In the last 50 years or so, scientific studies have been contributing more and more to the reconstruction of the past, for example— studies of ancient climate, chemical studies of excavated materials and studies of the genetics of ancient people provided fresh insights. It gives more usual sources.

Question 5.
How can newspapers and electronic media be important source in the study of the past?
Answer:
When historians study recent history (which usually means the last two or three decade), another source is newspapers. For last few decades electronic media such as television, internet can also be used.

Essay Type Questions

Question 1.
“The Earth has a very very long history, of which we humans occupy only a tiny part – the most recent one.” Explain the given statement
Answer:
History of the Earth : The birth of the earth is about 4.54 billion years ago. After this life developed on the earth. It is broadly classified into three major phases :
(a) Life on Earth billions of years ago :
Approx. 3.79 billion years ago the first cells emerged. Similarly atmospheric oxygen developed on earth about -2.33 billion years ago, and bacteria evolved about one billion years ago.

(b) The origin of life on Earth millions of years ago :
Sponges and fungi came into existence on the earth around 825 millions of years ago. Corals originated here about 760 millions of years ago. Fish vertebrates evolved on earth about 480 millions of years ago. Similarly amphibians came on the earth about 400 millions of years ago, sharks became part of earth about 375 millions of years ago. Here reptiles and Dinosaurs evolved about 320 millions, of years ago. Birds, mammals, flowers and bees, homo sapiens evolved on the surface of earth about 190, 170, 100 and 1 million years ago respectively.

(c) Development of life on Garth years ago :
The primitive man discovered fire on earth 10 lakh years ago. Three lakh years ago humans evolved here. In this way history of human being on earth is only from 3 lakh years ago to the present year 2024 AD which is the latest and recent one.

Question 2.
Show on a timeline some stages of evolution of life on the earth.
Answer:

Fig. : Timeline of a few important stages in the evolution of life on Earth.

Question 3.
What is the major problem in the calculation of the Gregorian Calendar and how is it resolved? Describe with an example.
Answer:
The Gregorian Calendar has simple calculation because the starting point for the calendar has been taken from the birth of Jesus Christ. Years are counted forward from this point and used to be marked as AD or CE. Similarly the years before the birth of Jesus Christ are counted backward and used be marked as BC or BCE.

In the Gregorian Calendar there is no ‘year zero’. The year 1 CE follows immediately the year 1 BCE. If we draw a simple timeline marking every year from 2 BCE to 2 CE; we will see that because of the absence of a year zero, only 3 years have passed between those two dates. So to calculate the number of years between a BCE date and CE date, you should add them but subtract 1—in the above case 2 + 2-1 = 3. For example 560 BCE is an approximate year of birth of Gautama Buddha and we are now in the year 2024 CE, then the Buddha was born 560 + 2024 – 1 = 2583.years ago.

Question 4.
“Historians try to recreate the history of the period they are studying.” Justify the statement with example.
Answer:
Historians try to recreate the history of the period they are studying. For example when historians study, say a king or queen of 1500 years ago, an ancient monument, a war or some items of trade, they take great care to gather information from as many sources as they can find and consult.

Sometimes the sources confirm each other at other time sources may give contradictory information. In this case, they need to decide which source they can trust more. That is how they try to recreate the history of the period they are studying.

Question 5.
How did the living conditions for humans improve after the Ice Age and how did the human civilisation develop?
OR
Write an essay on the development of human civilisation.
Answer:
The bast Ice Age lasted from over 100,000 (one lakh) years ago to around 12,000 years ago.

Afterwards, living conditions improved for humans; in many parts of the world, they started settling down and cultivating cereals and grains. They also domesticated animals such as cattle, goats, etc. With more food available, these communities grew in size and number, and often settled down near rivers.

This was not only because of the availability of water, but also because the soil would be more fertile there. It made the process of growing crops easier.

Development of Human Civilisation :
(1) Role of Chieftains : Early humans started to settle near river valleys, communities grew and society became complex. Leaders or ‘chieftains’ were responsible for the wellbeing of the people, and everyone collectively worked towards the community’s welfare.

(2) Development of Villages and Towns : As time passes, hamlets grew into villages. Some of them grew into towns. They exchanged food, cloth, tools etc. with each other. It gave Birth to Barter System.

(3) Development of Communication : Slowly networks of communication and exchanged were established among these villages.

(4) Development of New Technology : New technologies appeared—for example pottery, for making pots and other clay objects; and the use of metal (copper first, iron later), which helped make durable tools, objects of daily use and ornaments.

These were the stages of emergence of what is called civilisation. Many challenges were faced during these stages.

Locating Places on the Earth Class 6 Notes Social Science Chapter 1

How do we learn about the Past?

1. The Earth has a very long history, of which we humans occupy only a tiny part most recent one.
2. People who study the history of the earth help us learn about its past and also our past.
3. People study the earth’s past and our past through the study of various activities. These activities can be classified as follows : (i) Geologists (ii) Palaeontologists (iii) Anthropologists (iv) Archaeologists. Besides this historians geneticists also study past.

How is Time measured in History?

1. Each society and culture had its own ways of measuring time. At present, the Gregorian calendar is commonly used worldwide side by side Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Chinese and other calendars are also used for calculating the dates of festivals and auspicious events.
2. In the west, the conventional year for Jesus Christ’s birth has generally been taken to be the starting point for this calendar. Years are counted forward from this point and used to be marked with ‘AD’ that refers to the years after the birth of Jesus. Currently it is called the Common Era or CE across the world. In this hook CE word is used to represent Common Era.
   Similarly the years before the conventional date for the birth of Jesus are counted backward and marked with BC. In this book it is shown as Before Common Era or BCE.
3. A timeline is a suitable tool to mark such events as it shows a sequence of dates and events covering any particular day. A timeline also helps in understanding the order in which liistorical events take place.
4. In history long durations of time are studied through. Century (period of hundred years) and Millennium (period of thousand years).

What are the Sources of History?
(1) Source of history refers to a place, person, text or an object from which we collect information about the past event or period.

(2) We can gather information about the past through various sources. Such as :
(i) Oral Sources — Genealogical and Folklore
(ii) Literary Sources — Indian literature and Foreign accounts
(iii) Artistic Sources — Paintings, Sculptures and Panels
(iv) Archaeological Sources — Excavations, Structures and Inscriptions.
(v) Apart from this from last two or three centuries newspapers are also sources of information; Similarly from the last few decades electronic media can also be used to study history.

(3) Historian : Historian is a person who studies and writes about the past. He takes care to gather information about the past from various sources. In case of any contradiction, they take decision on the basis of source on which they trust more.

(4) Genetics : It is the branch of biology that studies how some features of plants, animals and humans get passed from one generation to next.

The Beginnings of Human History :

1. Homo sapiens (Humans) have been walking the planet for about 300,000 (three lakh years).
2. Early humans lived in groups and they were seeking shelter, food, and were mainly hunters and gatherers.
3. These groups lived in temporary camps, rock shelters or caves.
4. They used fire. They made stone axes, blades, arrow heads and other tools to make their life easier. In time early humans also learned to make symbol ornaments such as stone or shell beads, pendants made of animal teeth etc.

The First Crops :

1. At certain times, it was very cold and much of the earth surface was covered with ice- this is called an Ice Age. The last Ice Age lasted from over one lakh years ago to around 12,000 years ago.
2. Later, when the climate warmed up, this ice partly melted and as a result water moved towards the existing rivers and drained into the oceans.
3. Afterwards early humans started to settle down and cultivate cereals and grains at a place. They also domesticated animals such as cattle, goats etc. These communities often settled down near rivers due to availability of water and fertility of soil.
4. Gradually communities developed and worked towards the welfare of communities.
5. As time passes, hamlets grew into sizeable villages, they exchanged goods such as foods, clothes, tools etc. Slowly networks of communication and exchange were established among these villages.