Prehistoric people were hunter gatherers. Hunter- they hunted animals for food. Gatherer- they collected berries, nuts and other plants for food. They had to travel around to look for food. Lifer expectancy was low (about 19- 25 years). Prehistoric Times: •They moved around all the time and did not settle and build things that lasted. •They had no written language, so there are no written records. This means there are no descriptions about what they did to improve people’s health and treat illnesses. Beliefs:
•Prehistoric people believed in spirits, they believed that spirits were in every natural living thing and that spirits were involved in everything in their world- life, death, health and disease, However they had no knowledge of illnesses •They believed evil spirits accidently entered a person’s body. •They believed that people put curses on them, and chanting with a pointing bone. •People losing their spirits- usually because of a curse. Treatments of illnesses: •A medicine man provided spiritual comfort and medical help. He would work out the cause of the illness by contacting the spirit world and then decide a treatment.
•By chanting and dancing the medicine men would got in contact with the spirits and get rid of the evil ones. •Charms were given to people to warn off evil spirits. •Trephining was drilling a hole into the skull to allow the spirit to escape the body; the hole was created by a stone knife. •Natural remedies were used such as herbs, plants; mineral and animal plants were used to treat illnesses. Injuries from hunting, accidents or fighting against other tribes were treated using common sense. Mud was used to set broken limbs and splints made of wool were used. Ancient Egypt.
1)Farming Egyptian civilisation developed along the River Nile. The annual floods mean that the area surrounding is kept fertile. Farmers could then channel the water to their crops. Farming reluctantly became successful and Egypt became wealthy. 2)People who had contact with spirits were now called Priests, they organised the belief that in spirit world into a religion. With this, came the ideas of the afterlife and the spirits were now Gods that were in control of different aspects of the world. 3)Written Language also developed through using signs called hieroglyphics.
This allowed ideas and thoughts to be written down and shared. 4)More complicated tools were developed, which could be used for medicine. 5)The role of doctors became more important. They were carefully trained, and the idea of going to a doctor to help became more common than prehistoric times. Doctors were still religious figures and used charms, prayers and chants as well as natural remedies. 6)As people settled in one place, CITIES developed. CITIES CAUSED SOME PROBLEMS for the people who lived there, problems such as how to get rid of the waste.
This was solved by the RIVER NILE. The second problem was EPIDEMICS which spread quickly were many people were settled. 7)TRADE WAS DEVELOPED- goods were traded with other countries. This included medical herbs and other natural remedies. Medical ideas were also spread this way. Basic treatments started in the home with herbal remedies, but rich enough and your condition was serious enough, you were treated at a temple. Priests would use common sense treatments alongside supernatural treatments. They did not make the distinctions between them that we need to make today.
Specialist doctors, or physicians who were also priests, were employed by the pharaohs and often had other skills other than medicine, alongside supernatural treatments. Natural Beliefs and Treatments Disease- They looked to nature and the world around them for some explanations of illness and disease, for example ‘blocked channels’ Injuries- They had a good understanding of injuries that could happen at work, during battles and when haunting animals. When injuries had an obvious cause, like a broken bone from falling or a bite from an animal, they used natural treatments.
Treatment- they made natural treatments from herbs, plants, minerals and animal parts to treat injury and everyday illness. For example, Egyptians used honey (a natural antiseptic) to treat many conditions. Supernatural beliefs and treatments For injuries and diseases that didn’t have an obvious cause, e. g. internal injuries the Egyptians believed that they were sent by the gods and could be cured by them. Treatments- Spells, Charms and prayers were used. The Egyptians knew about many parts of the human body, but didn’t learn about medical dissection because their religion said that the body was needed in the after-life.