Anthropology
Open Access

Prehistoric Medicine: History, Procedures and Practices

Mariliyan Jen^{* *}Correspondence: Mariliyan Jen, Department of Anthropology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, Email:

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Description

Prehistoric medicine is a medicine that existed before people were able to read and write. It spans a wide period and varies according to the locations of the world and civilizations. Anthropologists study human history and have failed to determine how individuals practiced medicine in primitive periods. They, however, make educated predictions based on human remains and artifacts discovered, along w i t h the life p att - -ern seen in certain distant villages today. However, it may be very certain that individuals in prehistoric times believed in a blend of natural and supernatural causes and remedies for ailments and diseases. Prehistoric medicine would have relied on trial and error, but there was no such thing as a study. When conducting tests, they did not compare new or current therapies to a placebo or control, and they did not account for factors such as coincidence, lifestyle, and family history. Nobody knows for certain what prehistoric peoples knew about how the human body worked, but we may make some educated predictions based on the limited evidence discovered by anthropologists.

According to anthropologists, people employed therapeutic plants in prehistoric times. There is relatively no evidence that they employed plants and natural things as remedies. However, because plants perish quickly, it is difficult to know what the complete range would have been. They may assume that many medicinal herbs or plants would have been indigenous, but this was not always the case. Nomadic tribes may have traveled large distances and had access to a wider variety of resources. People used to utilize mallow and yarrow some 60,000 years ago, according to evidence from modern archaeological sites in Iraq. Achillea millefolium (Yarrow) is known as astringent, diaphoretic, aromatic, and stimulating. Astringents induce tissues to constrict, which helps to stop bleeding. Astringents were most likely used for wounds, cuts, and abrasions. A diaphoretic is a moderate aromatic that stimulates perspiration. It could also have anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, and antipathogenic properties. People throughout the world still use yarrow to heal wounds, respiratory infections, digestive issues, skin diseases, and liver diseases.

Mallow (Malva neglecta) is used for its colon-cleansing effects; people may have prepared this as an herbal infusion. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), there is evidence that rosemary was utilized as a medicinal herb in numerous parts of the world. Rosemary is said to have a variety of therapeutic properties across the world. As a consequence, it's difficult to say what it was employed for in ancient times. Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus) is a widespread plant in the European Alps, and it may have been used as a laxative in the past. Birch residues were discovered in a mummified state by archaeologists. According to botanists, ingesting the plant can cause diarrhea. Women would have collected and given herbal treatments, and they would have been in charge of curing disease and keeping their families well. Geophagy, trepanning, and shamanism are three procedures that are no longer used in medicine.

Geophagy is the practice of eating soil-like or earthy items like chalk and clay. This has been done on animals and humans for hundreds of thousands of years. Geophagy is associated with the eating disorder pica in Western and industrialized countries. Eating soil and clays provided prehistoric people with their earliest medical experiences. They may have imitated animals by studying how some clay had healing properties when animals swallowed them. Similarly, certain clays may be used to cure wounds. Clay is still used topically and inside to treat cuts and wounds in several societies across the world.

Based on cave drawings, scientists think that prehistoric peoples utilized trepanning to cure psychological disorders, headaches, and epileptic convulsions. If the person lived, they may have treasured the retrieved bone as a good luck charm. Trepanning was also employed to cure damaged skulls in prehistoric times, according to research. Some prehistoric civilizations had medicine men, sometimes known as witch doctors or shamans. They were responsible for the health of their tribe and gathered plant-based medicines, mostly herbs, and roots, performed basic surgery and cast spell and charms. When tribe’s people sought medical counsel for sickness, injury, or disease, they would consult a shaman.

Conclusion

Prehistoric health concerns were considerably different from those that exist now, yet several diseases and disorders, such as arthritis and back problems, are still prevalent. Plants like rosemary are still used in herbal medicine and aromatherapy for treating head aches. Prehistoric humans believed that ghosts controlled their lives. Some people throughout the world still believe that disease means losing or jeopardizing one's soul. Colonists discovered that natives in Australia could sew up wounds and encapsulate shattered bones in mud to heal them. Medical historians think that these abilities existed throughout prehistory. The majority of the evidence discovered exactly how archaeologists practiced medicine in prehistoric times.