CBSE Class 9 Social Science Chapter 04 Early Humans And Beginning Of Civilisation MCQs Set 02

Answer: (A) 400 BCE

Explanation:
The chapter mentions that Brahmi was in use from about 400 BCE, well before Ashoka standardised it in the 3rd century BCE.

Answer: (B) How humans adapted to shifting climate and surroundings through tools and technology

Explanation:
Cultural evolution, as distinct from biological evolution, refers to how people adjusted to changing climatic and environmental conditions over the Quaternary Period by developing tools and techniques.

Answer: (C) Early Homo sapiens

Explanation:
This later migration wave out of Africa, unlike the earlier one led by Homo erectus, is linked to early Homo sapiens, who had themselves evolved in Africa roughly 300,000 years ago.

Answer: (B) To test how early humans might have created and depended on such objects in daily life

Explanation:
By experimenting with tool-making, archaeologists get a practical sense of how such objects were produced and used, which helps them interpret the archaeological clues they find.

Answer: (C) An engraving tool used to carve symbolic marks on bones and shells

Explanation:
The burin, or engraver, was a distinctive stone tool employed to etch symbolic designs onto surfaces such as bone and ostrich eggshell.

Answer: (B) Greater hunting efficiency through sharp-tipped projectile weapons

Explanation:
These finer, pointed tools allowed hunters to tip projectiles with sharp edges, making hunting more effective than with the earlier, bulkier handaxes and cleavers.

Answer: (B) It contains numerous painted rock shelters linked to Mesolithic and earlier human occupation

Explanation:
Recognised as a World Heritage Site, Bhimbetka preserves hundreds of rock shelters decorated with paintings, offering insight into the art and life of Mesolithic and earlier humans.

Answer: (C) Preserved remains or impressions of ancient plants, animals, or humans formed after burial over long periods

Explanation:
Fossils form when biological remains get buried under layers of earth and gradually turn into stone over thousands or millions of years, becoming key evidence for reconstructing early history.

Answer: (A) Because written documents often record specific events like coronations and wars with dates

Explanation:
Before writing, dating relied on approximate methods based on material remains; afterward, documents mentioning precise events allowed far more accurate chronology.

Answer: (B) That there was cultural continuity from early regional traditions into the later, standardised Harappan civilisation

Explanation:
The chapter notes continuity in pottery, beads, terracotta objects, and copper working from these early sites into what later became the Mature Harappan phase, supporting the idea of a gradual, homegrown development rather than a sudden appearance.

Answer: (B) Because the temple functioned as both a sacred space and the city's treasury, tying economic activity to religious authority

Explanation:
The ziggurat sat at the centre of economic life, and restricting access to priestly figures reflected the close link between religion, wealth, and social hierarchy in Sumerian society.

Answer: (C) The Sindhu–Sarasvati civilisation

Explanation:
Sargon's cuneiform tablets referred to trade with Dilmun, Magan, and Meluhha; historians equate Meluhha with the Harappan world, exchanging goods such as beads, ivory, and timber.

Answer: (C) Government officials, nobles, and priests

Explanation:
Right beneath the pharaoh at the top came government officials, nobles, and priests, followed further down by landholders, artisans, merchants, and finally serfs and slaves at the base.

Answer: (B) Separate walls built by different dynasties from around 680 BCE onward were eventually joined and repaired over centuries

Explanation:
Various rulers, starting with the Zhou and other dynasties, built separate defensive walls against nomadic raids; these were later linked together, with expansion and repairs continuing as late as the 17th century CE.

Answer: (C) Being the first country to introduce paper currency

Explanation:
Besides developing a money economy by the 5th century BCE, China is noted as the first country to introduce paper currency, alongside pioneering civil service examinations.

Answer: (A) Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania and Kenya

Explanation:
Fossil evidence of Homo habilis, the toolmaker whose name means 'handy man', comes chiefly from the Olduvai Gorge region shared by Tanzania and Kenya.

Answer: (A) Africa, Asia, and Europe, where the earliest human settlements were found

Explanation:
The chapter groups Africa, Asia and Europe together as the 'Old World' because this is where the oldest known human settlements have been discovered, distinguishing it from lands settled much later by modern humans, such as Australia and the Americas.

Answer: (A) A Latin word for wedge, describing the shape of the marks

Explanation:
• Cuneiform comes from the Latin word 'cuneus', meaning wedge.
• The name refers to the wedge-shaped marks pressed into damp clay by scribes using a reed stylus.
• It was not named after any king or city mentioned in the chapter.

Answer: (A) Because Mesopotamia and the Indus-Ghaggar-Sarasvatī valleys were geographically closer, easing trade and travel

Explanation:
The chapter notes that the relative geographical closeness of Mesopotamia to the Indus and Ghaggar-Sarasvatī valleys made regular trade and contact possible, unlike with Egypt or China, where there is little tangible evidence of direct exchange with the Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation.

Answer: (A) Shang, Zhou, Qin, Han

Explanation:
• Shang dynasty ruled from about 1600 to 1046 BCE.
• Zhou dynasty followed, lasting until 256 BCE.
• The Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE) then unified China, giving it its name.
• The Han dynasty came next, ruling from 206 BCE to 220 CE.

Answer: (A) By cutting the inner trunk of the papyrus plant into strips, then criss-crossing, pressing, drying, and polishing them

Explanation:
Papyrus sheets were made from strips cut out of the papyrus plant's inner trunk, which were layered crosswise, pressed together, dried, and then polished smooth for writing.

Answer: (A) Egyptian women could own property and run businesses

Explanation:
Unlike in Greek or Roman society, Egyptian women generally had the right to own property and conduct business, a point the chapter illustrates with the example of Cleopatra, who was groomed from childhood to become queen.

Answer: (A) Sargon

Explanation:
The tablets of King Sargon of Akkad refer to trade with these eastern territories, with Meluhha generally identified as the Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation.

Answer: (A) They functioned as check dams to improve irrigation across small streams

Explanation:
Gabarbands were check dams constructed across small streams, comparable in purpose to the canal systems the Sumerians were developing around the same time, helping Early Harappans manage water for farming.

Answer: (A) Because silk became a major item of external trade along it during the Han dynasty

Explanation:
Although the Chinese had known silk since the Neolithic period, it was only around the 2nd century BCE, under the Han dynasty, that silk became such a dominant export that the whole trading path was named after it.