Page 84 - SST Class 03

Unit IV : Early Man

17 Discovery of Fire

Fire and I

Just imagine how important fire is to you. And think of the things
you would not have if it were not available. Your mother would
not be able to cook food without it. The metals and plastic would

not melt without fire, this means you would not have television,
fan, cooler, car, scooter, toy, book and all those facilities that you
see around you, including your house. Without it, you would
have to cut wood with stone, live in huts in the forest and drink
water direct from the river. No modern facilities can be imagined without fire.

Early Man did not know about fire, so he
lived like wild animals in the forest. There

were many strong wild animals, he did
not know how to keep them away. First he

learnt to throw stones at them. He also
started to pluck fruits with stones. He
noticed that sharp stones helped him cut

roots and stems of trees easily, so he
started to sharpen them. In this age, Early

Man used stones as tools, so it is called the
Stone Age .

With time, Early Man learnt to tie stones to dry tree branches; this was a

type of early axe. It helped him pluck fruits and hit animals more ably.

At this time, he did not know how to deal with cold. When he felt cold, he
took shelter in caves. Sometimes, he wrapped tree leaves round himself. He

also used the skin of dead animals for this purpose.

84 Contemporary Social Science-3