Prehistoric medicine

Information on the prehistoric medicine that will be needed in the GCSE examinations for OCR

HideShow resource information
  • Created by: star
  • Created on: 21-04-11 10:05
Preview of Prehistoric medicine

First 329 words of the document:

Prehistoric medicine
The prehistoric people were nomadic people. They were hunter gatherers. This means that they had
led a simple life and their life expectancy rates were low due to the lifestyle that they led.
They believed in evil spirits so that helped to explain illnesses like a headache. They used trephining
to solve the problem of a headache.
Trephining: Drilling a hole in the skull to let out the evil spirit.
Trephining is a very difficult treatment but there is evidence that the patients that went through with
this had survived. There are skulls to show that they have survived. As around the hole there are
smooth curves where the bone is building back again.
Magic and religion played an important part of the prehistoric people's lives as they didn't have much
information on the natural causes and science then to help them think logically.
The prehistoric also didn't know how to read and write and this was a big issue as they weren't able
to pass on teachings and new medical progress they made. This was a drawback to medicine.
They used shamans (which are medicine men) to make cures and chants to get rid of illnesses as
illnesses were caused by the evil spirits that were present.
Natural cures
Herbal medicines were used to treat many illnesses like fevers and tummy aches.
Clay and mud was used to mend broken bones.
Massages were used for various pains and to start circulating the blood stimulation.
Ointments were used from barks and leaves to help heal cuts.
The prehistoric lived like the Native American Aborigines and this is evidence to how the prehistoric
led their lives. The prehistoric and the aborigines have led similar lifestyles and historians have
examined all the practical methods that were used by the two cultures.


No comments have yet been made

Similar History resources:

See all History resources »See all resources »