Question

Choose any two developments each from Timelines 1 and 2 at the end of the chapter and indicate why you think these are significant.

Answer 1

According to me, the two most significant developments from timelines 1 and 2 are as follows:

1. Earliest stone tools: The making of the earliest stone tools is significant as it marked the initial phase of technological innovation. As the early man started making tools, executing daily tasks such as hunting and construction got easier. Simultaneously, he started crafting tools to suit farming needs. Farming provided a comparatively secure and stable source of food. This allowed early man to give up his nomadic life and settle down at one place. It can thus be rightly stated that the making of earliest tools marked the beginning of the initial phase of human civilisations.

2. Development of the voice box: The development of the voice box in early humans around 200000 years ago helped man to start speaking or communicating. Gestures, as mode of communication, were replaced by speech. Expression and communication of ideas and emotions became less cumbersome. The power to speak also helped the early man to conduct hunting and constructing shelters in the following manner:

a) Hunting

i. Man could now inform his group about any sighting of an animal that could be hunted.

ii. Planning and executing hunting strategies became easier.

iii. Sharing of experiences led to easy diffusing of the tool making technical know-how and successful hunting techniques. These shared stories of success, in turn, infused early man with confidence to hunt more efficiently.

iv. The use of language enabled early man to caution his associates of any approaching danger. Thus, they acted as support for each other in times of any exigency.

b) Constructing shelters

Besides facilitating hunting, the evolution of language also enabled the early man in constructing shelters. He could now discuss the choice of the site for building shelters along with his construction plans. Coordination in the process of construction of shelters was also possible by communication.