EXERCISES

1. Write short answers

(a). Who is the author of the book ‘The Old Stone Age’?
Answer: The author of the book ‘The Old Stone Age’ is M.C. Burkhet.

(b). Who first used the term ‘prehistory’?
Answer: The term “Prehistory” was first used by Daniel Wilson in his book The Archaeology and Prehistoric Annals of Scotland in the year 1851.

(c). Who is the author of the book ‘Primitive Culture’?
Answer: The author of the book ‘Primitive Culture’ is Edward Tylor.

(d). Who invented the radio-carbon dating method?
Answer: The radio-carbon dating method was invented by Dr. W.F. Libby in 1949.

(e). Who invented the Dendrochronology dating method?
Answer: The Dendrochronology dating method was invented by Dr. Douglas in 1913.

Q2. Describe the Potassium-argon dating method.
Answer: Potassium-argon analysis (K-Ar Method) is an absolute dating method based on a technique similar to radio-carbon analysis. Following intense heating from a volcanic eruption, radioactive potassium (K40) decays at a known rate to form argon (A40). As the half-life of K40 is 1330 million years, K-Ar dating can be used to date samples from 5000 years old up to 3 million years old. It is used to date minerals and rocks, especially in igneous minerals and volcanic glass, but not the fossil specimens themselves.

Q3. What is Plio-Pleistocene boundary? How is it defined?
Answer: The imaginary line separating the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods is known as the Plio-Pleistocene Boundary.

The boundary is defined by the formula, accepted in 1948 by the International Geological Conference, that the lower Pleistocene must contain any one or more fossils from the groups identified as villafranchia (terrestrial animals like Bos, Equus, and Elephas) and calibrian (marine brachiopods and molluscs). The strata below this is Pliocene.

Q4. What is excavation? Write the names of a few instruments used in excavation.
Answer: Excavation involves the study of undersurface materials by digging them out. It is done to discover the cultural sequence in the site and also to collect and record details of cultural levels lying below the surface of the soil.

A few instruments used in excavation are excavators, bulldozers, and backhoes for major projects, to smaller hand tools such as shovels, trowels, and picks for smaller jobs

Q5. What are the different sources of studying prehistory? Describe.
Answer: The main sources for studying the prehistoric period are material cultural remains (unwritten documents). Besides artifacts, prehistorians rely on three other kinds of sources to understand the past: ecofacts, fossils, and features.

1. Artifacts: Anything made or modified by human hands for a purpose, such as stone tools, ceramics, weapons, and ornaments.
2. Ecofacts: Natural objects that were not made by humans but have been used or affected by them, which help in understanding the archaeological record, such as remains of animals eaten or plant pollen.
3. Fossils: Any trace or impression of an organism from past geological time that has been preserved in the earth’s crust, such as bones, teeth, or footprints. Fossils provide direct evidence of evolution.
4. Features: Artifacts of human manufacture that cannot be removed from an archaeological site, such as hearths, storage pits, buildings, cave paintings, and rock shelters.

Q6. Write the causes of occurrence of the great ice age.
Answer: The causes of occurrence of the great ice age are –

1. The drastic climatic changes during the Pleistocene period are explained by geographical and astronomical theories.
2. Geographical theories are based on the positions of continents, changes in ocean currents, and plate tectonic movements.
3. Plate tectonic movement, such as the shifting of the Florida region, isolated Antarctica from warm waters, leading to the formation of ice sheets.
4. Astronomical theories focus on changes in the Earth’s orbit and its position relative to the Sun.
5. Milankovitch’s cycle explains climate change due to variations in the Earth’s orbit, axial tilt, and precession.
6. Croll’s hypothesis states that changes in the Earth’s orbital shape caused variations in solar radiation received.
7. Simpson’s theory suggests that changes in the relative positions of the Earth and Sun led to temperature fluctuations, resulting in glaciation.

Q7. What is pluvial period? Write the names of pluvial and inter-pluvial periods.
Answer: The term pluvial in Latin means rain. Pluvial was a warmer period of increased rainfall, which was contemporary with the glacial phases in the lower latitude and temperate zones.

The names of the pluvial and inter-pluvial periods in the lower latitude and temperate zones are:

1. Pluvial periods: Kageran, Kamasian, Kanjeran, and Gamblian.
2. Inter-pluvial periods: Kageran-Kamasian, Kamasian-Kanjeran, and Kanjeran-Gamblian.

Q8. Describe the climate of the Pleistocene period.
Answer: The Pleistocene is known as a period of changing climate, where climate changes took place more than 200 times. It is characterized by the ‘great ice age’ where ice sheets covered nearly one-third of the earth’s surface in the Northern Hemisphere. There were four advances of glaciers (Gunj, Mindel, Riss, and Wurm) intervened by three warmer interglacial periods. Corresponding to the glacial periods, the tropical and equatorial regions experienced pluvial periods (increased rainfall), which were separated by drier interpluvial periods.

Q9. What is dating method? Describe any one of the absolute or relative dating method.
Answer: Dating methods deal with determining the chronology of a prehistoric site or cultural materials.

Absolute Dating Method (Radio Carbon Dating): Radio carbon dating is the most widely used absolute dating technique. It is based on the fact that all living organisms absorb radioactive carbon (C14), and this absorption ceases at the time of death. The half-life of C14 is 5730 years. The age of an organic substance is measured by counting the beta rays emitted by the remaining C14 as it decays to radioactive nitrogen (N14). This method can adequately date organic materials up to 70,000 years old.

Q10. How paleoanthropology helps in the study of prehistory?
Answer: Paleoanthropology helps in the study of prehistory through the location and study of fossil remains. These fossils serve as direct evidence of evolution and are crucial for understanding:

1. Human evolution – tracing the development of humans over time.
2. Paleo-environment – reconstructing the environmental conditions of the past.
3. Food habits – providing insights into the diet and lifestyle of ancient humans.

The study of fossils is particularly valuable because they contain information about the life of an organism and its past environment, helping scientists reconstruct prehistorical life accurately.