NCERT Book Class 6 Social Science Timeline and Sources of History PDF Download

Chapter 4: Timeline and Sources of History

History is "an unending dialogue between the present and the past ... between the society of today and the society of yesterday. ... We can fully understand the present only in the light of the past."

- E.H. Carr

[Figure: National Museum, New Delhi. Such museums preserve objects from the past, such as statues, coins and ornaments, all of which help us understand our history, See in your textbook]

The Big Questions

1. How do we measure historical time?
2. How can various sources help us understand history?
3. How did early humans live?

How Do We Learn About the Past?

Think About It

• What is the earliest memory you can recollect? Do you remember how old you were at that time? Those memories together are a part of your past, maybe going five or six years back.
• How do you think understanding the past will help us understand the present world?

You will discover in Science that the Earth has a very, very long history, of which we humans occupy only a tiny part - the most recent one.

[Figure 4.1: Timeline of a few important stages in the evolution of life on Earth, See in your textbook]

Teacher's Note

When you look at timelines showing Earth's history, notice that the scale changes as you move right. Billions of years ago are shown on the left, then millions of years ago, then just thousands of years ago. This is why a tiny human-shaped icon represents all of human history - we arrived incredibly recently on a geological timescale.

Many people study the history of the Earth. Some of them are trained to uncover the secrets left beneath the Earth's surface and help us learn about its past - and also our past.

Observe these four pictures and the activities involved. From top left:

• Geologists (Fig. 4.2.1) study the physical features of the Earth, like the soil, stones, hills, mountains, rivers, seas, oceans and other such parts of the Earth.
• Palaeontologists (Fig. 4.2.2) study the remains of plants, animals and humans from millions of years ago in the form of fossils.
• Anthropologists (Fig. 4.2.3) study human societies and cultures from the oldest times to the present.
• Archaeologists (Fig. 4.2.4) study the past by digging up remains that people, plants and animals left behind, such as tools, pots, beads, figurines, toys, bones and teeth of animals and humans, burnt grains, parts of houses or bricks, among others.

Teacher's Note

The four sciences you have just learned about work together like different detectives. An archaeologist might find a fossil bone at a dig site, which a palaeontologist then identifies and dates. An anthropologist studies what that bone tells us about how people lived and thought. Remember the difference: palaeontology studies ancient life through fossils; archaeology studies human history through human-made and human-used objects.

How Is Time Measured in History?

Each society and culture has had its own ways of measuring time. Major events, such as the birth of an important person or the start of a ruler's reign, have often marked the beginning of a new era. At present, the Gregorian

Key Points

• History is the study of the human past, and we learn about it through the work of scientists like archaeologists, palaeontologists, anthropologists and geologists who uncover evidence from beneath the Earth's surface.
• A fossil is the preserved remains or impression of plants, animals or humans found in layers of soil or rocks, and these help us understand life from millions of years ago.
• An era is a distinct period of time, often marked by major events like the birth of an important person or the beginning of a ruler's reign.
• Different cultures and societies have developed their own ways of measuring time, though the Gregorian calendar is widely used today.
• Humans occupy only a tiny, very recent part of the Earth's long history, which extends billions of years before we appeared.

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