This chapter explains how early humans gradually shifted from hunting and gathering to farming, herding, and settled life. It highlights the role of climate change, domestication of plants and animals, and the emergence of early villages.

Climate Change and the Beginning of Farming

Farming developed as a consequence of global climate change. As the climate became warmer, people began to observe plants closely—how they grew, shed seeds, and regenerated. Gradually, humans started growing crops deliberately instead of only collecting them from nature.

Different plants required different climatic and soil conditions, and early humans learned this through observation and experience.

Domestication of Animals

Along with farming, humans also began taming animals, a process known as domestication.

• The dog was the first animal to be domesticated.
• Animals like sheep, goats, and cattle were later tamed.
• People who reared animals came to be known as herders.

Animals served as a store of food, as they provided:

• Milk
• Meat
• Security and assistance in daily life

📌 Important Fact: Animals were considered a form of living storage of food.

Use and Storage of Grains

Grains played multiple roles in early farming societies:

• Used as food
• Preserved as seeds for the next crop
• Given as gifts

This required humans to learn storage techniques, marking a major step towards planned living.

Neolithic Age (New Stone Age)

The period after about 10,000 years ago is called the Neolithic Age.

Key Features of the Neolithic Age:

• Development of farming and herding
• Use of mortars and pestles
• Growth of settled villages
• Beginning of weaving, as people started growing cotton

Early Villages and Archaeological Evidence

Mehrgarh

• Located in a fertile plain near the Bolan Pass
• One of the earliest farming villages in the subcontinent
• People grew barley and wheat
• Evidence found:
  • Houses with four or more compartments
  • Burial sites
  • Tools and grains
• Settlement began around 8,000 years ago

Daojali Hading

• Located near the Brahmaputra Valley
• Stone tools made of jadeite found
• Presence of fossil wood, showing ancient environmental conditions

Houses and Living Patterns

Archaeologists have found:

• Remains of huts and houses
• Pit houses, made by digging into the ground
• These provided protection from weather

Excavations show levels (layers of occupation), helping historians understand the chronology of settlement.

Tribes and Social Life

Many early farmers and herders lived in groups called tribes.

• Tribes followed common customs and practices
• They shared food, resources, and work
• Social life became more organized than earlier hunter-gatherer groups

Important Terms to Remember

Timeline of Key Developments