Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Prehistoric Medicine
(pre-writing)
- Prehistoric people were nomadic
until around 10,000 BC
- They were hunter-gatherers, travelling to
find food rather than settling in one place.
- The life expectancy was
low - 19-25 years.
- People began farming after 10,000 BC
and life expectancy increased to 20-27
- Prehistoric people died from disease they couldn't
stop, infections from accidents, blood loss, warfare
and occasional food shortages
- They had mostly supernatural
explanations for diseases.
- They thought evil spirits
could enter a persons body
and become trapped,
causing illness.
- They thought people could curse each other
with bad spirits that caused disease.
- They thought diseases could be
caused by people losing their own
spirits - often because of a curse.
- They received supernatural
treatments or preventions
from MEDICINE MEN.
- Medicine Men would
chant and dance to enter
a trance to contact spirits
to get rid of evil spirits.
- Medicine Men would also give people
charms to ward off evil spirits.
- Medicine Men would carry out TREPHINING - boring a hole
into the skull - to release evil spirits, using stone knives.
- Skulls have been found where the bone has grown
back over the hole - this means the person survived.
- They didn't know it but this relieved
pressure on the brain if a person had
a tumour or water in the brain.
- They also had natural treatments
of illnesses and injuries, mostly
provided by mothers or women.
- Women passed down natural herbal
remedies that were used to treat illnesses.
- Natural injuries, such as from fighting or
hunting, were treated using common sense.
- Mud was used to set broken bones and
wooden splints were used to support them.