The Evolution of Human Beings (Part 1) : Nomadic Life

The Evolution of Human Beings
(Part 1)
At the end of this lesson, the students are expected to:
 discuss the different stages through which human societies evolved.
The first human-like beings are believed to have emerged about two million years ago. They
resembled apes. Biologists called them Homo sapiens (wise human beings in Latin). They did not
know how to cultivate land and grow food. Nor did they know how to build a house for shelter. They
lived in caves or on tree tops. Do you know that human beings had started living on earth much
earlier than they learnt to write? The invention of writing was an important landmark, as written
records became the main source of our knowledge of the past. Do you know what is not recorded in
writing is called Prehistory? You will be surprised to know that the period of prehistory is much
longer than the recorded time, which we term as history. So, to re-construct the life of prehistoric
humans, historians and anthropologists study tools, weapons, ornaments, cave dwellings and cave
paintings made by our ancestors. History refers to that period of human evolution for which written
records are available. Such writings are found on rocks, pillars, copper plates and more recently
paper.
Nomadic Life
The Stone Age The primitive human beings were nomads. They kept moving from one place to
another in search of food from the environment. They moved in groups to ensure safety from wild
animals, for social security and for companionship. They also started making tools with stones. So,
we call that period in human evolution as the Stone Age. In each stage human beings used stones
as implements which were better than the earlier ones. This helped them to progress to a better and
safer life. It had the following main stages:
The Old Stone Age - Palaeolithic Age (500,000 B.C. -10,000 B.C.)
During the old stone ages, (Palaeolithic Age) human beings lived in the foothills of the mountains
preferably near a river. Rivers provided them with drinking water as well as food in the form of
animals that came there to quench their thirst. They could find caves for shelter on the foothills. So,
their basic needs of food, water and shelter were satisfied easily at such spots. Do you know that
early humans had to push out wild animals, specially the giant bears, from the caves in order to
make a home for themselves? Just imagine how difficult and dangerous life the primitive people
lived. To cover and protect their bodies from heat and cold, these primitive humans wore bark from
the trees and the skin of animals, which they dried under the sun. You must appreciate the role
environment plays in sustaining the human beings even today. There are some places in India like
the Andaman and Nicobar Island where certain tribal live like the early humans even today. Early
humans lived in caves and made paintings depicting hunting scenes on the walls of these caves.
Paintings of animal-chase, especially big animals like bison and reindeer can still be seen in the
Bhimbetka caves in Madhya Pradesh. It is quite possible that this practice of drawing on the walls
was some kind of a ritual that ensured that they would be successful in their hunting expeditions. It is
also possible that it was a creative expression to make their surroundings beautiful by making an
artistic expression of their hunts.
The Palaeolithic humans also developed certain practices which we think must be their religious
beliefs. They worshipped their ancestors after their death and buried them with tools and eatables
for a comfortable journey to the next world. They were afraid of natural phenomena like lightning and
thunder. They could not understand facts like the rising and setting of the sun. But they knew that
when the sun rose in the east, it gave heat during the day time, whereas the moon gave peace and
coolness at night. To them it was something supernatural, because they could not understand the
cause. So they worshipped the Sun, the Moon, Thunder and Lightning. Moreover, they were wise
enough not to destroy nature and its balance. They took from nature only as much as they needed
and preferred to live in harmony with it. Don’t you think that the world would be a nice place to live in
if people followed what the early humans did? The Old Stone Age was followed by the Middle Stone
Age or the Mesolithic age. The Mesolithic age was regarded as the transitional age between the
Palaeolithic age and the Neolithic age.

The Middle Stone Age – Mesolithic Age (10,000 B.C. – 8,000 B.C.)
Let us see how the humans during the Mesolithic age discovered the use of fire. It is quite possible
that when two pieces of flint stone were struck together, they produced a spark. This spark may
have fallen on some dry leaves and caused a fire. This could have frightened or surprised the early
humans. The intelligent humans learnt to use this discovery to their advantage. They found that fire
frightened the animals and so could provide them safety if kept burning near the caves. It also
provided light during the night. Even the food became softer and tastier when cooked on fire. It also
warmed up the cold caves by providing heat. Even today, people warm themselves sitting near a fire
on a cold winter night. This must have been really a great event in the life of early humans. Can you
imagine how the progress of early humans from living on the treetops to the discovery of fire took
place? It could not have happened overnight. Obviously, it took several thousand years. No wonder
that fire became an object of wonder as well as worship.
The New Stone Age – Neolithic Age (8,000 B.C. – 4,000 B.C.)
In the beginning, human beings were mere hunters and food gatherers. It took them hundreds of
thousands of years before they could become food producers. This was the beginning of the
Neolithic Age. Humans could grow their own food and they no longer depended on the uncertainty of
hunting or searching and gathering more food. How do you think this happened? It is quite possible
like the discovery of fire this could also have been an accident. May be some seeds fell on the
ground and plants came out. These plants soon became a regular supply of food. They started
sowing these seeds and harvesting them. Now, they had to look after the plants they had sown. This
was because there was a gap of at least six months between sowing and harvesting the grains. This
was the beginning of agriculture. It led to a settled life for humans for now they had a regular source
of abundant food. They also had a better chance of survival as they no longer had to go hunting for
food. Agriculture brought many advantages and changes in the lives of the human beings. They built
huts for themselves which were probably protected by a wall. Their fields lay outside the walls. Now
they had a regular place to live which soon took the form of a village. This village consisted of many
families which provided protection to each other.

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The Evolution of Human Beings

 discuss the different stages through which human societies evolved.

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