Early Humans Class 9: Stone Age Periods and the Neolithic Revolution
Updated 17 October 2026 · Fact-checked
Our ancestors evolved in Africa: Homo habilis and Homo erectus made stone tools, and Homo erectus first left Africa about 2 million years ago, while Homo sapiens appeared about 300,000 years ago. Early history is divided into Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages. The Neolithic Revolution, the shift from hunting-gathering to farming, produced the first villages, as at Mehrgarh (about 7000 BCE).
Notice that farming and villages began with the Neolithic Revolution, and that almost all human history comes before writing.
Illustration drawn for QuestionBuddy.
Understand Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution
Before and after writing. More than 99 per cent of human history (about 3 million to 5,000 years ago) is before writing, known only through artefacts; the last 5,000 years are known also from written documents. Prehistoric dating is approximate; written sources give more accurate dates.
Human ancestors. Early human history studies biological evolution (from the australopithecines to modern *Homo sapiens*) and cultural evolution (adaptation through tools and technology during the Quaternary Period).
- Our earliest ancestors evolved in Africa. About 3.3 million years ago one of them made the earliest stone tools. Tools are called "extra-corporal limbs".
- *Homo habilis* ("handy man") lived in Africa, especially the Olduvai Gorge, and made chopper tools.
- *Homo erectus* (upright, bipedal) made handaxes and cleavers and was the first hominin to leave Africa, about 2 million years ago.
- *Homo neanderthalensis* lived in Europe and Southwest Asia till about 40,000 years ago.
- *Homo sapiens* evolved in Africa about 300,000 years ago; a second major wave left Africa about 125,000 years ago.
Archaeologists study tools, bones and fossils, and even make copies of tools to see how they worked.
Periods. *Palaeolithic* (Old Stone Age: hunting-gathering; simple stone tools); *Mesolithic* (microliths; a bridge to farming); *Neolithic* (farming, settled life, domestic animals, polished stone tools); *Chalcolithic* (copper with stone); *Bronze Age* (copper mixed with tin; trade, towns, early civilisations); *Iron Age* (iron smelting).
Palaeolithic India. The oldest settlements go back about 2 million years; Attirampakkam (Tamil Nadu) is dated about 1.5-1.7 million years ago and Isampur (Karnataka) about 1.2 million years ago. Tools: handaxes, cleavers, scrapers and choppers of quartzite and limestone, used to chop meat, dig tubers, scrape skins and crack bones for marrow. Later came smaller scrapers, borers and points, the bow and arrow, blades and burins. With *Homo sapiens* came symbolic communication, rock paintings and beads.
Mesolithic. From about 12,000 years ago the climate grew warmer; forests and grasslands spread, giving small game, fish and wild grains, and the world saw its first population explosion. Microlithic tools helped catch aquatic food and fishing became the mainstay. Bhimbetka (Madhya Pradesh), a World Heritage Site, has hundreds of painted rock shelters.
The Neolithic Revolution. Hunter-gatherers shifted to producing food by domesticating plants and animals. Neolithic farmers made tools to produce and process food, made pottery and set up the first villages. The change came at different times in different places (rice in the Ganga plains, wheat and barley in West Asia, millets in India and North China).
Mehrgarh (on the Bolan River, present-day Pakistan) is the oldest Neolithic site and earliest farming village in the subcontinent, about 7000 BCE: sun-dried brick houses and granaries, graves, ornaments of lapis lazuli, carnelian and shell, wheat and barley, sheep, goats and zebu cattle, and the first copper objects by about 4000 BCE. By 2500 BCE most of the subcontinent had Neolithic farming communities.
Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution: key facts
- Periods in order
- Palaeolithic
- Mesolithic
- Neolithic
- Chalcolithic
- Bronze Age
- Iron Age
- Stone Age = first three.
- Human ancestors
Homo habilis Olduvai, choppers Homo erectus handaxes, first out of Africa about 2 million years ago Neanderthals till about 40,000 years ago Homo sapiens about 300,000 years ago - Earliest stone tools about 3.3 million years ago.
- Indian sites
Attirampakkam Tamil Nadu Isampur Karnataka Bhimbetka Madhya Pradesh Mehrgarh Bolan River - Link site to period.
- Neolithic features
- Domestication
- Pottery
- First villages
- Food production
- Mehrgarh about 7000 BCE.
- Before and after writing
- More than 99 per cent before writing
- Less than 1 per cent after
- Artefacts versus documents
- Dating improves with writing.
How to answer Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution questions
Questions ask you to order periods and ancestors, link tools and sites to periods, explain why the Neolithic is called a revolution, and work out time spans from dates.
- 1Place the period in the sequence and give its defining technology or lifestyle.
- 2For tools, say what they were used for (cutting meat, digging tubers, scraping skins).
- 3For Mehrgarh, quote the date and three features: houses, granaries, crops and animals.
- 4For time spans with BCE dates, subtract the later date from the earlier; with BCE and CE add and remember there is no year 0.
- 5Close with the impact: villages and the base for cities.
Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution in real life
The idea, met in an everyday situation. Answer the question in your own words, then compare with the model answer. The one-line hook is what to remember.
From foraging to farming in a school garden
Suppose a class first gathers wild berries from a forest edge and then, a year later, sows seeds and waits for a harvest in its own plot.
Which change in early history does this resemble and what is the main difference?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Gathering wild food is hunter-gatherer life.
- Sowing and harvesting is food production.
- The shift is the Neolithic Revolution.
Answer: It resembles the move from hunting-gathering to farming, the Neolithic Revolution. The main difference is that people now produce food and stay near their fields.
Memory hook: Find it, then grow it.
A tool for a task
Suppose a museum shows a heavy stone handaxe and a tiny sharp stone blade, and asks which belongs to the Palaeolithic and which to the Mesolithic.
How could you decide?
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Handaxes and cleavers are typical of the Palaeolithic.
- Microliths, tiny stone tools, belong to the Mesolithic.
- Size and purpose differ: heavy chopping versus tiny tools set in handles for fishing and hunting.
Answer: The handaxe is Palaeolithic and the tiny blade is a Mesolithic microlith.
Memory hook: Big for old stone, tiny for middle stone.
Tricks to remember Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution
Short memory aids. Say each one aloud once, then use it on a question the same day.
Periods: P-M-N-C-B-I
Please Make New Copper Bronze Irons: Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze, Iron.
Use it when: Order of ages.
Ancestors: H-H-N-S
Habilis, erectus (Homo), Neanderthal, Sapiens: handy, upright, Europe, wise.
Use it when: Sequence.
Mehrgarh M-B-G-C
Mud-brick houses, Barley and wheat, Granaries, Copper.
Use it when: Features.
Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution: solved examples
Ordered from board level to HOTS. Try each one before you open the solution.
Example 1: Which ancestor? · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Which hominin was the first to leave Africa, about 2 million years ago?
(a) Homo habilis
(b) Homo erectus
(c) Homo sapiens
(d) Neanderthals
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Homo erectus was the first hominin to leave Africa (1 mark).
Answer: (b) Homo erectus
Example 2: Tools for what? (2 marks) · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
Hunter-gatherers made tools to procure food, but Neolithic farmers made tools for another purpose. State the difference and one change in settlement that followed. (2 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Neolithic tools were made to produce and process food (1 mark).
- People set up the first villages and made pottery (1 mark).
Answer: Hunter-gatherers made tools to procure food, whereas Neolithic farmers made tools to produce and process food. As a result people settled in the first villages and made pottery, which formed the base for later urban life.
Example 3: Time spans (3 marks) · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Mehrgarh dates to about 7000 BCE and the Chalcolithic stage to about 4000 BCE. Find the interval between them. If we count to 2026 CE, how long ago was 7000 BCE (ignoring the missing year 0)? (3 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Interval = 7000 - 4000 = 3,000 years (1 mark).
- 7000 + 2026 = 9,026 years ago, ignoring the missing year 0 (1 mark).
- This is a derived calculation: dates are approximate (1 mark).
Answer: The interval between 7000 BCE and 4000 BCE is 7,000 - 4,000 = 3,000 years. Counting to 2026 CE gives 7,000 + 2,026 = 9,026 years ago, ignoring the missing year 0. The dates are approximate, so these are derived approximations.
Example 4: Assertion-reason: microliths · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Fishing became the mainstay in the Mesolithic.
Reason (R): The climate grew warmer and microlithic tools helped catch aquatic food.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Both statements follow the chapter; R explains A (1 mark).
Answer: (a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Example 5: Palaeolithic to Neolithic (5 marks) · 5 marks · Long answerHOTS / competency
Compare Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers and Neolithic farmers in tools, food, dwellings and social change. (5 marks)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- Tools: handaxes, cleavers, scrapers for procuring food; Neolithic tools to produce and process food, polished stone (1 mark).
- Food: hunting-gathering versus domesticated plants and animals (1 mark).
- Dwellings: mobile life versus villages with brick houses and granaries (1 mark).
- Technology: pottery in the Neolithic (1 mark).
- Social change: villages laid the base for later urban life, as at Mehrgarh (1 mark).
Answer: Palaeolithic people used handaxes, cleavers and scrapers to procure food; Neolithic farmers made polished stone tools to produce and process food. Palaeolithic food came from hunting and gathering, while Neolithic people domesticated plants and animals. Palaeolithic life was mobile, whereas Neolithic people built villages with houses and granaries, as at Mehrgarh, and made pottery. The shift laid the base for later cities.
Example 6: Case: Mehrgarh · 4 marks · Case-basedHOTS / competency
Read the case and answer the questions.
Archaeologists at a site on the Bolan River find mud-brick houses, storage rooms with traces of wheat and barley, bones of sheep and goats, shell ornaments and a few copper objects in later layers.
(i) Name the site. (1)
(ii) What does the storage of grain suggest? (1)
(iii) What does the copper show about the later development, and which civilisation does it lead towards? (2)
Try it first, then show the solutionSolution
- (i) Mehrgarh (1 mark).
- (ii) Settled farming and planning for food storage (1 mark).
- (iii) Early metallurgy (Chalcolithic by about 4000 BCE), leading to the Bronze Age Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation (2 marks).
Answer: (i) Mehrgarh. (ii) Grain storage suggests settled farming and planning for the future. (iii) Copper objects show early metallurgy, the Chalcolithic stage by about 4000 BCE, which paved the way to the Bronze Age Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation.
Where students lose marks in Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution
The slips examiners see most often, and what to write instead.
Mistake: Wrong order of ages
Confusing Chalcolithic and Bronze.
Wrong working
Bronze Age comes before Chalcolithic.
Right working
Chalcolithic (copper with stone) comes before the Bronze Age.
Do this: Use P-M-N-C-B-I.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Mixing Homo species
Same prefix.
Wrong working
Homo sapiens first left Africa 2 million years ago.
Right working
Homo erectus first left Africa; Homo sapiens appeared about 300,000 years ago.
Do this: Match species and date.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: BCE arithmetic slip
Adding instead of subtracting.
Wrong working
7000 BCE to 4000 BCE is 11,000 years.
Right working
Both are BCE: 7000 - 4000 = 3,000 years.
Do this: Same era subtract.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Mistake: Mehrgarh location
Mixing river names.
Wrong working
Mehrgarh is on the Ganga.
Right working
Mehrgarh is on the Bolan River.
Do this: Learn the river.
Usually costs: 1 mark.
Exam tips
- Learn the period sequence and one defining feature for each stage.
- Quote site and state (Attirampakkam - Tamil Nadu; Isampur - Karnataka; Bhimbetka - Madhya Pradesh).
- For date questions, state whether both dates are BCE or CE before calculating.
- Use "approximately" for prehistoric dates.
Practice questions on Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution
Write each answer on paper first. Open the hint only if you are stuck, and the answer only when you have finished.
Q1 · 1 mark · MCQBoard level
Bhimbetka is famous for:
(a) the oldest copper tools
(b) painted rock shelters
(c) a dockyard
(d) pyramidsHint
Madhya Pradesh.
Answer
(b) painted rock shelters
Q2 · 2 marks · Very short answerBoard level
What were microliths and why were they useful? (2 marks)
Hint
Tiny stone tools.
Answer
Microliths were tiny stone tools of the Mesolithic. They were useful for catching aquatic food and for hunting, and they made fishing the mainstay.
Q3 · 3 marks · Short answerHarder board level
Name three uses of Palaeolithic stone tools in India. (3 marks)
Hint
Meat, tubers, skins, marrow.
Answer
Palaeolithic tools such as handaxes, cleavers, scrapers and choppers were used to chop meat, dig tubers, scrape skins and crack bones for marrow.
Q4 · 1 mark · Assertion-reasonHarder board level
Assertion (A): Prehistoric dates are more approximate than historic dates.
Reason (R): Before writing there are no documents mentioning events such as coronations or wars.
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
(b) Both A and R are true, but R is not the correct explanation of A.
(c) A is true, but R is false.
(d) A is false, but R is true.Hint
Artefacts only.
Answer
(a) Both A and R are true, and R is the correct explanation of A.
Q5 · 5 marks · Long answerHarder board level
Describe the lifestyle of the people of Mehrgarh and explain why the site is important. (5 marks)
Hint
Houses, granaries, crops, animals, copper.
Answer
The people of Mehrgarh lived in handmade sun-dried brick houses, stored grain in granaries and buried their dead in graves. They wore ornaments of lapis lazuli, carnelian and shell, grew wheat and barley and kept sheep, goats and zebu cattle. Copper objects appeared by about 4000 BCE. Mehrgarh is the oldest Neolithic site and earliest farming village in the subcontinent, dating to about 7000 BCE, and it paved the way to the Bronze Age Sindhu-Sarasvatī civilisation.
Q6 · 3 marks · Short answerHOTS / competency
Suppose a historian claims, "Since the Harappan script is undeciphered, we cannot learn anything about the Harappans." Evaluate this claim using the chapter. (3 marks)
Hint
Material remains.
Answer
The claim is too strong. Although the script is not yet deciphered, we learn about the Harappans from artefacts and remains such as seals, pottery, beads, tools and water-management structures, and from contacts recorded in other civilisations' texts. The script would add names, events and thoughts, but material remains already tell us much about their economy and technology.
Test your recall
Answer in your head or on paper first, then open the card. Pulling an answer out of memory makes it stick far better than re-reading.
1.Where did our earliest ancestors evolve?Show answer
In Africa.
2.Which site is the oldest Neolithic site in the subcontinent?Show answer
Mehrgarh.
3.What are microliths?Show answer
Tiny stone tools of the Mesolithic.
4.What is domestication?Show answer
Taming and breeding selected plants and animals for human use.
5.Name the Palaeolithic site in Tamil Nadu.Show answer
Attirampakkam.
Human Ancestors, the Stone Age and the Neolithic Revolution: frequently asked questions
What are the periods of early human history?
Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age.
What was the Neolithic Revolution?
The shift from hunting-gathering to producing food by farming and domestication, leading to settled life.
Who was the first hominin to leave Africa?
Homo erectus, about 2 million years ago.
Why is Mehrgarh important?
It is the oldest Neolithic site and earliest farming village in the subcontinent, about 7000 BCE.