Credits. In some communities around the world, people still use clay externally and internally to heal cuts and wounds.Trial and error would have played a role in medicine in prehistory, but there was no research, as such.A diaphoretic promotes sweating and is a mild aromatic. Most came up with bones, in some form or other, and cave paintings.This lesson was taught by Mike Herrity when Head of History at Wildern School, Hedge End, near Southampton. Some people around the world today still consider illness as losing or compromising one’s soul.In contrast, medical historians are fairly sure that prehistoric peoples had no concept of public health. After just a few minutes had been spent on each, a new piece of evidence was passed on to them by the neighbouring group, thereby keeping a fast pace but still allowing time for mature deliberation.Students had to pick a number which then triggered a particular question about the lesson. In Western and industrialized societies geophagy is related to an eating disorder known as pica.Below are some diseases and conditions that may have been common in prehistoric times:The individual, if they survived, may have kept the extracted bone as a good luck charm.Medicine men, also known as witch doctors or shamans, existed in some prehistoric communities. Instead, individuals tended to move around a lot and did not remain in one place for long, so the idea of a public health infrastructure was probably not relevant.They were probably unaware of how good hygiene practices can prevent infections and their complications. A fascinating replica trepanned (trephinned) skull was produced. However, because they had different lifestyles and lifespans, the diseases would have varied from those we have now.There is evidence that humans have been boring holes into people’s heads since Neolithic times to try to cure diseases or free the victim of demons and evil spirits.Three practices that are no longer common in medicine are geophagy, trepanning, and shamanism.Similarly, some clays are useful for treating wounds. Why might it have been used? It may also have anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, and antipathogenic properties, among others.They may have copied animals, observing how some clays had healing qualities, when animals ingested them.Women would have gathered and administered herbal remedies, and they were probably in charge of treating sickness and keeping their families healthy.This practice refers to eating soil-like or earthy substances, such as chalk and clay. Nomadic tribes traveled long distances and may have had access to a wider range of materials.As people did not read or write in those days, people would have passed down their knowledge of the benefits and harm of various herbs they used for medicines by word-of-mouth.When we think of medicine, we imagine the hospital or doctor’s office, sterile spaces, and pills that make us feel better. This ranged from factual recall to making links between evidence and findings.Quick starter: in pairs pupils identify the key features of the study of the history of medicine which were introduced in the last lesson and learned for homework. The previous lesson had been an introductory overview of the five main time periods covered in the course, the five main areas of medicine and the seven main factors that tend to impact, positively and negatively on the development of medicine.I am grateful to Mike Herrity for generously contributing his lesson and PowerPoint and to Hodder Education for granting permission to use illustrations that feature in their excellent book Medicine and Health through Time.Students were then given a piece of evidence, such as those on the PowerPoint which they had to try to infer from. It covers a vast period and varies, according to regions of the world and cultures. This gave a very positive ‘can-do’ ethos, which characterised the attitude of the department.As students were working methodically though this, a new injection of pace and interest had been planned for. The information can be cut out and stuck around the room. However, they can make guesses based on human remains and artifacts that they find and on the way of life we see in some remote communities today.Prehistoric medicine refers to medicine before humans were able to read and write. But, thousands of years ago, medicine looked somewhat different.While people no longer have holes drilled in their skulls to free them from demons, herbs such as rosemary still play a role in herbal medicine and aromatherapy.Tribespeople would also seek out a shaman for medical advice when they needed it for sickness, injury, or disease.Nobody knows precisely what prehistoric peoples knew about how the human body works, but we can base some guesses on limited evidence that anthropologists have found.There is some limited evidence that they used herbs and substances from natural sources as medicines.People used medicinal herbs in prehistoric times, say anthropologists.There is also evidence that trepanning was used in prehistoric times to treat fractured skulls.Some of the priorities of public health today are:Most of the evidence that archeologists have found in prehistoric graves shows healthy but badly set bones. A close up of bone growth then led to discussion of the idea of trepanning.