What was the State of Prehistoric
Medicine?
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Prehistoric Britain – 3000 BC to AD 43
To find out what was happening at this time we have to rely
on the findings of archaeologists, as there are no written
records.
Archaeologists have studied skeletons (individual ones and
those found in large ancient tombs) and well-preserved
bodies found in peat bogs, such as ‘Lindow Man’ found in
Cheshire.
Their evidence can tell us how people lived, what sorts of
diseases prehistoric people suffered from, what condition
their bones and teeth were in, whether physical work or
warfare caused death or deformity, what they had eaten for
their last meal and how old they were when they died.
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In prehistoric settlements, like
this reconstructed one, life
revolved around keeping a few
animals, growing crops, hunting
and gathering firewood. Work
was done by hand, and heavy
loads had to be carried.
Though life was physically hard, people were generally very
fit and did not suffer some of the diseases which kill people
today. Few suffered tooth decay or broken bones. People
had strong muscles, but many had osteoarthritis (painful,
swollen joints). Lives were very short, with very few people
living over 40. Women had a shorter life expectancy than
men. The highest death rates were among babies, small
children and adults between 20 and 35.
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Activities
1.
Why do you think few people suffered tooth decay,
even without dental treatment?
No sugar.
2.
Explain why women died younger than men.
Pregnancy, childbirth, poor diet and heavy
physical work.
3.
Why might most people have died between the ages
of 20 and 35?
War, pregnancy/childbirth, hard work,
accidents, ‘old’ age.
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4.
Today, osteoarthritis is a disease of the
elderly. What was it about the prehistoric
lifestyle, do you think, which caused even children
to suffer from this at that time?
Hard physical work, carrying and pulling heavy
loads.
5.
Why do you think diseases such as heart disease or
cancer were rare?
No high fat or processed foods, lots of
vegetables, no smoking, no pollution. Few
people lived long enough to develop diseases
which usually attack later in life.
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What did people die from?
Diseases – lack of medical understanding or treatment
led to diseases spreading which could not be stopped,
and for which there was often no cure.
Infections – Ignorance of hygiene or the effects of germs
left prehistoric people unable to fight infections from
wounds.
Food shortages and poor diet – this often left people
weakened and with little resistance to disease, as well as
suffering from the lack of iron or other essential minerals.
War – men were often killed in battles or local skirmishes.
Those who were injured stood little chance of escaping
infection and death.
Write a sentence or two about the effects on
health of each of these points today. Would your
answers apply in all parts of the world?
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Medical knowledge and beliefs
While archaeological evidence gives us a good picture of
the state of people’s health, it cannot tell us about their
beliefs about what caused disease, what medical
knowledge they had or how they tried to cure illness.
To find answers to these questions, historians have
talked to groups of people, such as some Aborigines in
Australia, whose lifestyles have not changed for
thousands of years. By examining their beliefs and
practices we can get an insight into prehistoric life.
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Aboriginal beliefs and treatments
Those Aborigines who still follow their traditional culture,
believe that everyone has their own spirit inside themselves
and that if someone becomes ill it is because their spirit has
left them, or an evil spirit has entered their body.
Treatments
To get treatment, Aborigines go to a Medicine Man who
knows all about spirits. He puts his patient into a trance by
singing and chanting and then massages the sick area
which releases the spirit and the patient is cured.
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Charms
Traditionally, Aborigines also wore charms to keep evil
spirits away, and buried their cut-off nails and hair and
their excrement, probably to prevent spirits casting spells
on them.
Herbal Medicine
All through the history of medicine we
will find the use of herbs to cure
illness and disease, and the
Aborigines are no exception. The
women treat their families with herbal
remedies and use recipes handed
down over thousands of years.
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Surgery
Whilst general surgery was
not known at this time, one
amazing operation did take
place. This was trepanning
or trephining, which involved
cutting a hole in the skull,
possibly to release evil spirits
which were causing illness.
As crazy as this may sound,
archaeological evidence
suggests that people survived
trepanning, though whether it
had any good effects we do
not know.
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A 19th century drill used in
trepanning
What do you think
were the dangers of
trepanning?
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Was the state of medicine and health the same everywhere
in the prehistoric world?
No. Whilst life and medicine in Britain and many other
places were primitive, elsewhere in the world there were
some countries which were highly civilized and advanced.
The Egyptian, Greek and Roman civilizations all developed
comfortable lifestyles, with a desire for hygiene and medical
care.
In the Factors pages in your exercise book write a
sentence explaining how the following factors affected
medicine in prehistoric Britain: beliefs (use the
‘religion’ page for this), education, communications.
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