Chapter Notes: Our Ancestors

Long ago, the life of man started. His life was very different and difficult from ours. He went through many stages to evolve into the humans of today. It took man a long time to grow up. This evolution covers roughly 3 million years.

FOOD

Early Man lived in forests and caves. He ate raw fruits, roots, soft stems and the flesh of wild animals. At that time, he did not know how to cook food. He used to eat whatever was available in the jungle. He had to move from one place to another in search of food.

TOOLS

Early Man felt the need for some tools to kill wild animals and to dig out plants. He used simple stones with sharp edges to hunt animals. Later, he started shaping them to suit his purpose. The first weapon he made was a club. Then, he made sharper weapons which were shaped like hammers, choppers and axe heads. Later, he realised that if he tied a stone to a long piece of wood, he could throw it at an animal. This helped him to hunt animals without going near them.

DISCOVERY OF FIRE

Early humans led a very hard life. They had to suffer extreme cold weather. They had to live in darkness and were afraid of the wild animals.
Over time, man learnt to make fire by rubbing stones. He used fire to cook food, to keep himself warm and to keep wild animals away. With the ever increasing development and sharpness of the human mind, he was able to develop and invent many more things to make his life comfortable.

INVENTION OF THE WHEEL

The Early Man had to carry heavy loads of wood and animals that he hunted back to his cave. He, then, cooked food with the help of fire. One day, accidently, a log of wood rolled down the mountain. Then, the early man observed how easier it was for heavy things to roll down from the mountains. He also observed that it was much easier to roll things over rounded objects, such as logs of wood rather than pulling them.

Later, man discovered that logs could be cut into circular discs. Changes were made to these discs which led to the invention of the present day wheel. Now, man could carry heavy loads easily from one place to another with the help of the wheel. The invention of the wheel led to many more inventions. Starting from a hand-cart, the present day man has developed the aeroplane with wheels.

KEYWORDS

• Evolution: the change in the biological characteristics over generations.
• Dig out: remove or harvest.
• Invent: to create anew.

SUMMARY

• The Early Man lived and moved in forests for food.
• The Early Man ate roots, fruits and the flesh of animals.
• Gradually, he learnt to use stones for digging and hunting.
• The Early Man learnt the use of fire and wheel.
• The invention of the wheel was a great step towards the progress in transportation.