To cure headaches/epilepsy
by letting out evil spirits
Most people
survived it
Never carried
out on children
Anatomy
Little known about
the body
Some knowledge
from burial rituals
Annotations:
bones were stripped of the flesh, bleached and buried in different piles
Some knowledge from cannibalism
Public Health
Unneccessary
Nomadic
No sewers/hospitals
needed
Cause & Cure
Dual Approach
Supernatural
Charms
Rituals
Dances
Ceremonies
Poking sticks
Beads
Magic paintings
Natural
Annotations:
Healers could have used these medicinal substances as part of their spiritual practices and, if the healing proved successful, could certainly have ascribed the success to the spirits, not to the substances they had used in the cure
Clay casts for
broken bones
Willow leaves/animal fat +
bark for cut
Professional Development
Witch doctors
Would have
combined healing
with other spiritual
functions
No proper doctors
existed
Prehistoric people did not have even
the concept of curing illness through
medicine