Question
Discuss how man started a settled life.
Solution
As man's knowledge of his environment increased, there was a desire for a more comfortable way of living. A number of discoveries led to a change in the pattern of life.
The most important of these was the discovery that man could grow plants and grain. He found that by putting seeds in the soil and watering the soil, plants would grow. This was beginning of agriculture.
1. This was an important discovery because it meant that man did not have to wander from place to place in search of food. He could grow his own food. He stopped being a nomad and began to settle down in one place as an agriculturist.
2. The New Stone Age (Neolithic) or the 'food-producing' stage was the time when man completely changed his way of life. Before this, man lived by hunting animals and collecting wild plants. In the new way of life, he began to domesticate animals and cultivate plants.
3. The dog, goat and sheep were probably the first of the animals to be domesticated. Among plants, wheat and barley were the earliest cereals grown. In order to do this, man had to settle down in certain selected areas.
4. This led to the growth of villages and farming communities. He needed certain tools with which he could clear the land, and others with which he could prepare the land for cultivation.
