Prehistoric Medicine
How healthy were people?
Prehistoric people were relatively healthy as they have built a system of skills and behaviours that kept them healthy in the environment through many processes of trial and error. Prehistoric people were known as nomadics who travelled to different areas and had no time to settle and build hospitals nor the time to observe how their body operated.

What Caused Sickness?
Sicknesses and diseases were more common during the Prehistoric ages. Many people would go hunting bears and deer for skin and meat and may have wounded themselves in the process. Due to the limited knowledge of germs in that time, the wound would become very serious when if infected. Another reason may be due to malnutrition since men as hunters may have received better food than the women who would consequently be less resistant to sickness.

How did they treat illness and injury?
Patients would go to the medicine man who was a half priest and half doctor. He would use herbal remedies, chant spells and prayers to force the evil spirits to leave he body. If a person was critically ill and have evil spirits inside their head causing the sickness, the medicine man would perform trepanning. This is where they would drill a hole in the patient’s head to release the spirit inside.

Who treated the sick?
Patients would go see and medicine man or shaman who was a half priest, half doctor figure.

What did they think caused illness?
Prehistoric people largely explained sicknesses and diseases through evil spirits they believed in. They believed that evil spirits could enter their bodies and cause the illnesses.