From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food Class 6 Notes – Quick Revision
For most of human history, people survived by hunting animals, fishing and gathering wild plants. Over thousands of years, some communities began to cultivate plants, herd animals and live for longer periods in one place. This gradual change from food gathering to food production transformed human life.
Updated for 2026–27: “From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food” is a familiar chapter from the older NCERT Class 6 History book Our Pasts–I. The current Class VI Social Science book is Exploring Society: India and Beyond, where early-human history is reorganised rather than taught under this exact chapter title. This page keeps the legacy topic for students using the older sequence while explaining the ideas in a more current and globally useful way.
| Key idea | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hunter-gatherer | A person who obtains food by hunting, fishing and collecting wild plants. |
| Domestication | The long process through which humans selectively managed plants and animals for useful traits. |
| Farming | Growing crops such as wheat, barley, rice and other plants for food. |
| Herding | Managing animals such as sheep, goats and cattle. |
| Neolithic | A broad archaeological term associated in many regions with farming, herding, polished stone tools and more settled communities. |
Watch & Learn: One English + One Hindi Lesson
English: From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food – Full Chapter
This public Magnet Brains lesson covers hunter-gatherers, movement, stone tools, fire, changing environments, farming, herding, settled life, Mehrgarh and the classic NCERT chapter questions.
हिंदी: शिकार-संग्रह से भोजन उत्पादन तक
यह सार्वजनिक NCERT कक्षा 6 इतिहास पाठ शिकारी-संग्रहकर्ता, कृषि, पशुपालन, औजार, नवपाषाण जीवन और मेहरगढ़ को हिंदी में समझाता है।
Why Did Hunter-Gatherers Move?
- Wild plants and animals were available in different places during different seasons.
- Animals moved in search of food and water, so hunters sometimes followed them.
- Water sources could dry up seasonally, making movement necessary.
- People travelled to obtain stone, wood and other useful raw materials.
Hunter-gatherers were therefore not simply “wandering.” Their movement often reflected detailed knowledge of seasons, landscapes, animals and plant resources.
How Do We Know About Early People?
Archaeologists study material remains such as stone tools, animal bones, charred seeds, hearths, pottery, houses and burials. The location of these remains helps researchers reconstruct how people obtained food, where they lived and how their lives changed.
| Evidence | What it may tell us |
|---|---|
| Stone tools | Cutting, scraping, hunting and food-processing activities |
| Animal bones | Animals hunted, eaten or managed by people |
| Seeds and grains | Plants collected or cultivated |
| Hearths and ash | Use of fire and cooking |
| Houses and pits | Settlement patterns and daily life |
From Wild Plants to Farming
The move toward farming happened gradually and at different times in different regions. People who already knew where wild grains grew could observe when seeds ripened and what conditions helped plants grow. Over generations, some communities began sowing and tending selected plants. Farming was therefore the result of accumulated knowledge, experimentation and changing relationships with local environments—not one single event.
From Wild Animals to Herding
Humans also developed increasingly close relationships with certain animals. Dogs are among the earliest domesticated animals known archaeologically. In many farming communities, animals such as sheep, goats and cattle were later managed for meat, milk, hides, labour and other uses.
The word domestication means more than simply taming one animal. It describes a long-term process in which human choices influence the behaviour and biological characteristics of plant or animal populations.
A More Settled Way of Life
Growing crops often encouraged people to remain near fields for sowing, protecting crops, harvesting and storage. Grain could be stored for future use, and herds could provide continuing resources. More settled life also encouraged new types of houses, pottery, grinding stones and storage facilities.
Mehrgarh – An Important Early Farming Site
Mehrgarh, near the Bolan Pass in present-day Pakistan, is one of South Asia’s most important early farming settlements. Archaeological evidence shows cultivation of wheat and barley, animal herding, houses and burials. Occupation at the site began around the seventh millennium BCE, making it important for understanding the transition toward farming and village life.
Other Important Sites
- Burzahom: in Kashmir; famous for pit dwellings and archaeological evidence of early communities.
- Daojali Hading: in northeast India; stone tools and other remains show links with early settled life and exchange networks.
- Mehrgarh: one of the earliest well-known farming settlements in South Asia.
Neolithic Does Not Mean the Same Date Everywhere
Older school summaries sometimes say that the Neolithic Age “began 10,000 years ago.” That is useful only as a rough introduction. Archaeological periods begin and end at different times in different regions. What matters is recognising the broader changes: farming, herding, new tools, food storage and more permanent settlements.
5-Minute Archaeology Activity
- Imagine archaeologists discover a stone blade, sheep bones, burnt wheat grains and a storage pot at one site.
- Write what each object might tell us.
- Decide whether the community was probably only hunting-gathering or also farming/herding.
- Write one question that the evidence cannot answer by itself.
Quick Revision Checklist
- I can explain why hunter-gatherers moved from place to place.
- I can describe how archaeologists study early human life.
- I understand the difference between taming and domestication.
- I can explain why farming encouraged more settled life.
- I can identify Mehrgarh, Burzahom and Daojali Hading as important archaeological sites.
- I know that archaeological period dates differ from region to region.
Quick Self-Test
- Why did hunter-gatherers move frequently?
- What is domestication?
- Why did people begin storing grain?
- Why is Mehrgarh important?
- Name one kind of archaeological evidence that can reveal what people ate.
Answers: (1) To follow seasonal food and water resources and obtain raw materials. (2) A long-term process of managing and selectively breeding plants or animals for useful traits. (3) To preserve food and seed for future use. (4) It is one of South Asia’s important early farming and herding settlements. (5) Animal bones, seeds or charred plant remains.
From Hunting-Gathering to Growing Food FAQs
Was farming invented at one place and one time?
No. Farming developed independently in several parts of the world and at different times. Different regions domesticated different plants and animals.
What is the difference between a hunter-gatherer and a farmer?
Hunter-gatherers mainly obtain food from wild plants and animals, while farmers deliberately cultivate plants and often manage domesticated animals.
Is this still Chapter 2 in the current NCERT Class 6 book?
No. The current integrated NCERT Class VI Social Science book is Exploring Society: India and Beyond. Early-human history is reorganised within the newer course, so this legacy chapter title is mainly useful for the older Our Pasts–I sequence and for foundational history learning.
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