NCERT Solutions: In The Earliest Cities - Notes | Study Social Studies (SST) Class 6 - Class 6

In The Earliest Cities

Let’s Recall

Q1. How do archaeologists know that cloth was used in the Harappan civilisation?

Archaeologists knew that cloth was used in the Harappan civilisation because actual pieces of cloth were found attached to the lid of a silver vase and some copper objects at Mohenjodaro. They have also found spindle whorls, made of terracotta and faience which were used to spin thread.

Q2. Match the columns

Q3. Why were metals, writing, the wheel, and the plough important for the Harappans?

Things and its importance:
• Metals – For making tools, weapons, ornaments and vessels
• Writing – For maintaining records.
• Wheels – Used as means of transport.
• Ploughing – For tilling the land so that farming could be done.

Let’s Discuss

Q4. Make a list of all the terracotta toys shown in the lesson. Which do you think children would have enjoyed playing with the most?

List of terracotta toys shown in the lesson:
• Animal figures
• Wheeled vehicles
• Toy plough
Children would have enjoyed playing with the wheeled vehicles most.
Terracotta toys of Harappa 

Q5. Make a list of what the Harappans ate, and put a tick mark against the things you eat today.

They Harappans ate rice, wheat, barley, pulses, mustard, peas, linseed etc. These things we eat even today.

Q6. Do you think that the life of farmers and herders who supplied food to the Harappan cities was different from that of the farmers and herders you read about in Chapter 3? Give reasons for your answer.

The life of farmers and herders who supplied food to the Harappan cities was different from that of the farmers and herders in Chapter 3. In Harappa, farmers and herders did agriculture and domestication of animals in a more organised way. They sold their surplus to meet other demands such as clothes etc. while the farmers and herders in Chapter 3 only produce for their own use.