(i) The earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago.
(ii) Gradually, conditions emerged for the growth of organisms.
(iii) Then plants and animals came into being and thereby foundation was laid for the evolution of humans.
(iv) The long span of time in earth's history is divided into eras periods and epochs by the geologists.

(i) The greatest of the Han emperors Wu Ti (Han Wu the Great, 141 to 87 BCE) sent Zhang Qian as emissary to the West in 138 BCE.
(ii) It paved the way for the opening of the Silk Road in 130 BCE to encourage trade activities.
(iii) Because of the Silk Road and the resultant trade connections, China benefitted immensely during the rule of Emperor Zhang.

(i) The Urban society practised crafts, engaged in trade and exchange, adopted science and technology and formed political organisation.
(ii) Hence the term civilisation is used to distinguish them from the early forms of societies.

1. The Numerous sculpture, paintings and carvings attest to the artistic skills of Egyptians.
2. Their writing is also a form of art.
3. Giza pyramids are considered to be one of the wonders of the world.
4. These monuments display the engineering, architectural and human resource management skills of the Egyptians.

1. In Megalithic period people buried the dead bodies with grave goods in the cists.
2. Urns or pottery jars were used for burning the dead and also they used sarcophagi made of terracotta.
3. Dolmens, table like stone structures were erected as funerary monuments. Menhirs pillar are like stones erected as part of the burials or memorials.
4. Port holes are holes found in the cists and dolmens on one side.

(i) The culture that domesticated animals and cultivated crops is called Neolithic.
(ii) It is known as the New Stone Age. The Neolithic people used polished stone axes called celts.
(iii) Cattle rearing was their main occupation. They lived in small villages with houses made of thatched roof and walls plastered with clay.
(iv) Evidence of Neolithic village is found at Payyampalli in Vellore district and a few sites in the Dharmapuri region.
(v) Payyampalli is a village in Vellore district of Tamil Nadu. The earliest evidence for the domestication of animals and cultivation of plants is found at this site, which was excavated by the Archaeological Survey of India.
(vi) Evidence for pottery making and cultivation of horse gram and green gram has been found in this village.
(vii) These Neolithic sites were part of the Southern Neolithic Culture of India. They are mainly concentrated in the Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka regions.
(viii) The Neolithic people used stone axes fitted on a wooden handle .
(ix) These polished stone axes are worshipped in many village temples of Tamil Nadu even today.

(i) The similarity of the graffiti found on the megalithic burial pots of South India with the Indus script and the identical place names of Tamil Nadu and Indus region of Pakistan are presented as arguments to establish the relationship between the Indus civilisation and Tamil culture
(ii) Researchers like Father Henry Heras, Asko Parpola and Iravatham Mahadevan find similarity between the Indus script and the Dravidian Tamil language.
(iii)  Archaeological evidence points out that several groups of people have been living in Tamil Nadu and South India continuously from the Mesolithic period.
(iv) A few groups from the Indus region might have migrated into southern India.
(v) Some of the ideas and technologies of the Indus civilisations had reached South India in the Iron Age.
(vi) The carnelian beads, shell bangles and bronze mirrors found in the Megalithic/Early Historic sites of Tami Nadu were first introduced by the people of the Indus civilisation, More research is needed to arrive at any definite conclusion in this matter.
(vii) The towns of ancient Tamilagam such as Arikkamedu, Uraiyur and Keezhadi that flourished are part of the second urbanisation of India and these towns are much different from the Indus cities. These towns emerged approximately 1,200 years after the decline of the Indus civilisation.

1. The writing of Egyptians were called hieroglyphic.
2. This form of writing used a pictogram based system.
3. Hieroglyphic was used in inscriptions on seals and other objects.
4. Many texts and books were written using this script.
5. The Egyptian writing system was deciphered by the French scholar Franco is Champollion cuneiform.
6. Cuneiform is the Sumerian writing system.
7. The shape of the letter is in the form of wedge and hence it is called cuneiform
8. It is one of the earliest scripts of the world.
9. The epic of Gilgamesh was written in this script.
10 The Sumerians used this script for commercial transactions and writing letters and stories.
11. The clay tablets contain loads of information on the Sumerian civilisation.

(i) The history of humans is closely related to the history of the earth.
(ii) The earth contains geological, archaeological and biological records of historical times in its upper layers.
(iii) They are important for reconstructing the history of the earth and various living organisms.
(iv) The fossil bones of the human ancestors are embedded in the earth's layers.
(v) Palaeoanthropologists and archaeologists excavate the soil and rock layers on the earth and extract evidence about human ancestors.
(vi) These layers and the fossils are scientifically dated to study the various stages in human evolution and prehistory.
(vii) Through the gathered evidence they attempt to understand the evolution of human history and developments in a chronological order.·
(viii) The earth was formed approximately 4.54 billion years ago.
(ix) Gradually conditions emerged for the growth of organisms. Then plants and animals came into being and thereby foundation was laid for the evolution of humans. The long span of time in earth's history is divided into eras, periods and epochs by the Geologists. Thus the history of humans is closely related to the history of the earth.

1. The museum of Ennigaldi Nanna in Mesopotamia.
2. It was established in 530 BCE.
3. The Capitoline museum in Italy is perhaps the oldest surviving museum at present (1471 CE).
4. Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University is the oldest University Museum in the world.