8000+BC+-+Prehistoric+Medicine

It is clear that prehistoric societies believed in both natural and supernatural means of variably causing and treating disease.

Treepanning-
‍‍‍‍‍‍ It was believed that evil spirits, conjured by a sorcerer, could inhabit a person's body and cause illness and that these spirits could be removed from the patient, through the skull, by trephining. A trephine is an instrument used for cutting out a round piece of skull bone. ‍‍‍‍‍‍

[] Spirit healers would perform ceremonies and cast spells to treat the sick. We also believe that they dispensed the first medicines

People called Shamans used magic, spells, prayers, and charms, shaman and healers often used signature//,// or symbolic, items to treat their patients. These signature treatments included things like drinking the blood of a warrior to increase strength or eating leaves shaped like body organs to cure a disease.

Some major medical advancements at this time would be the development of digitalis, morphine, quinine, and ephedrine are all modern medicines that have been passed down to us from prehistoric signature practice.

The medicine man (witchdoctor) of each tribal group acted as a priest and doctor. Although he would have had a knowledge of rational treatments, he had no formal medical training. His power to heal came from personal contact with the gods, as he alone could channel their energies into curing a patient. If the medicine man's treatment failed, it was assumed that the spirit causing the illness was too strong.

It was also believed that medicine men had the ability to cause disease. A stick or bone given spiritual powers in a religious ritual could be pointed at an enemy to either place an evil spirit inside the body or to remove the victim's spirit.

If an illness had no identifiable cause it was blamed on the gods or spirits [] Prehistoric medicine included more practical or rational treatments when the cause of illness was obvious, such as a broken bone resulting from an accident. In order to protect the bone during healing, a broken arm or leg was covered in river clay or mud and the cast allowed to dry hard in the sun.

Cave paintings have shown that prehistoric peoples were aware of the heart and its location, but little else. Such anatomical observations would probably have been made when preparing animal carcasses for eating or during ritual sacrifice. Surgery, with the exception of trepanning, does not appear to have taken place. Medicine had a huge impact on society at that time. Although their methods or medicine may not have been the best, they learned from their mistakes and without their prior mistakes, we wouldn't have our medicine today. Plant materials (herbs and substances derived from natural sources), were among the treatments for diseases in prehistoric cultures. Since plant materials quickly rot under most conditions, historians are unlikely to fully understand which species were used in prehistoric medicine