Class 6 Social Science Chapter 4, Timeline and Sources of History, explains how historians, archaeologists, epigraphists, anthropologists, palaeontologists and geologists reconstruct the human past using timelines (BCE/CE, decades, centuries, millenniums, Panchanga), archaeological/literary sources, early human cave life and the beginnings of agriculture.
What Class 6 Social Science Chapter 4 Covers
Measuring Historical Time & Sources of History explains the Gregorian calendar timeline with BCE (Before Common Era / BC) and CE (Common Era / AD) without a Year Zero, Indian Panchangas, and historical sources—archaeological remains, monuments, inscriptions, coins, manuscripts, epics, folklore and foreign travellers’ accounts.
The Beginnings of Human History & First Crops traces Homo sapiens over 300,000 years from hunter-gatherers using stone axes, fire, rock art and beads to the warming climate after the last Ice Age (~12,000 years ago), domesticating cereals (wheat, barley, rice) and animals (dogs, cattle, sheep, goats) and settling in villages with pottery and metal tools.
Exercises in Chapter 4
- Before we move on … chapter summary points and Questions, activities and projects.
- LET’S EXPLORE and THINK ABOUT IT classroom inquiry tasks.
Read Class 6 Social Science Chapter 4 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 3: Landforms and Life
- Next: Chapter 5: India, That Is Bharat
- Hindi medium: Class 6 Social Science Chapter 4 PDF in Hindi (Samaj ka Adhyayan)
- All Social Science chapters and the other Class 6 books: Class 6 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
FAQ
How do you calculate the number of years between a BCE date and a CE date?
Add the two years together and subtract 1, because there is no Year Zero in the Gregorian calendar (for example, from 500 BCE to 2000 CE is 500 + 2000 – 1 = 2,499 years).
What is the difference between an archaeologist and an epigraphist?
An archaeologist studies the past by excavating and analysing physical remains like tools, pots, coins and buildings, while an epigraphist specifically studies ancient inscriptions engraved on stone or metal.