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== Disease and mortality ==
Some diseases and ailments were more common in prehistory than they are today; there is evidence that many people suffered from [[osteoarthritis]], probably caused by the lifting of heavy objects which would have been a daily and necessary task in their societies.{{Citation needed|date=June 2008}} For example, the transport of [[latte stone]]s, a practice started during the neolithic era, which involved hyper extension and torque of the lower back while dragging the stones, may have contributed to the development of micro fractures in the spine and subsequent [[spondylolysis]]. Things such as cuts, bruises, and breakages of bone, without antiseptics, proper facilities, or knowledge of germs, would become very serious if infected, as they did not have sufficient ways to treat infection.<ref>{{cite web | title = The History of Medicine, Pre-history | url = http://www.britishempire.co.uk/boniface/humanities/history/year10/prehistoric.htm |website=Student reference and support materials | publisher = [[St Boniface's College]] | access-date = 2009-02-19}}</ref>{{Unreliable source?|reason=This institution is a secondary school, not a full college.|date=December 2011}}
There is also evidence of [[rickets]], bone deformity and bone wastage ([[osteomalacia]]),<ref name='Short journey'>{{cite web | title = Babylon to Birmingham, A short journey through medicine to the end of the 18th Century | url = http://www.revolutionaryplayers.org.uk/babylon-to-birmingham/ |website=Revolutionary Players | date = 18 May 2015 | publisher=History West Midlands | access-date = 2015-12-30}}</ref> which is caused by a lack of [[vitamin D]].
The life expectancy in prehistoric times was low, 25–40 years,<ref>{{cite book |author=Schools History Project |title=Medicine & Health Through Time: an SHP Development Study |publisher=[[Hodder Education]] |date=26 September 1996 |isbn=978-0719552656}}</ref> with men living longer than women; archaeological evidence of women and babies found together suggests that many women would have died in childbirth, perhaps accounting for the lower life expectancy in women than men. Another possible explanation for the shorter life spans of prehistoric humans may be malnutrition; also, men as hunters may have sometimes received better food than the woman, who would consequently have been less resistant to disease.<ref>{{cite web | title = Prehistoric Medicine | url = http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/6303/1/Prehistoric-Medicine.html | publisher = HealthGuidance.Org | access-date = 2009-02-19}}</ref>
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<ref>{{cite web |title=Medical use of Spices |url=http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?spicefilename=medspice.txt&itemsuppress=yes&displayswitch=0 |publisher=[[UCLA]] Library, History and Special collections |access-date=2009-02-19}}</ref>]]
Plant materials ([[herbs]] and substances derived from [[natural source]]s)<ref>{{cite web |title=Use Of Spices As Medicines |url=http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/biomed/spice/index.cfm?spicefilename=SpicesAsMeds.txt&itemsuppress=yes&displayswitch=0 |publisher=[[UCLA]] Library, History and Special collections |access-date=2009-02-19}} Mentions spices being used by some prehistoric cultures</ref> were among the treatments for diseases in prehistoric cultures.{{Which|date=December 2011}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Samorini |first=Giorgio |date=2019-06-01 |title=The oldest archeological data evidencing the relationship of Homo sapiens with psychoactive plants: A worldwide overview |url=https://akjournals.com/view/journals/2054/3/2/article-p63.xml |journal=Journal of Psychedelic Studies |language=en |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=63–80 |doi=10.1556/2054.2019.008|doi-access=free }}</ref> Since plant materials quickly rot under most conditions, historians are unlikely to fully understand which species were used in prehistoric medicine. A speculative view can be obtained by researching the climate of the respective society and then checking which species continue to grow in similar conditions today<ref>{{cite book |last=Lock |first=Robin |title=Plants of the Humid Tropics Biome |year=2002 |publisher=Eden Project books |pages=128 |isbn=978-1-90391913-2}}</ref> and through anthropological studies of existing indigenous peoples.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Moerman |first=Daniel E. |encyclopedia=Native American Medicinal Plants: an ethnobotanical dictionary |publisher=[[Timber Press]] |year=2009 |place=Portland, OR / London |isbn=978-0-88192-987-4}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Native American Herbal Remedies |url=http://www.powersource.com/cherokee/herbal.html |website=Cherokee Messenger |publisher=Cherokee Cultural Society of Houston |year=1996 |access-date=2009-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723181953/http://www.powersource.com/cherokee/herbal.html |archive-date=2011-07-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Unlike the ancient civilisations which could source plant materials internationally, prehistoric societies would have been restricted to localised areas, though [[nomadic]] tribes may have had a greater variety of plant materials at their disposal than more stationary societies.
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=== Surgery ===
''[[Trepanning]]'' (sometimes ''Trephining'') was a basic [[surgical operation]] in which a hole was drilled or scraped into the skull. It was carried out in prehistoric societies across the world,<ref name='Neuro' /><ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1097/00006123-199907000-00033 |vauthors=Piek J, Lidke G, Terberger T, von Smekal U, Gaab MR |title=Stone age skull surgery in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern: a systematic study |journal=[[Neurosurgery (journal)|Neurosurgery]] |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=147–51; discussion 151 |date=July 1999 |pmid=10414577 }} A small but informative text</ref> although evidence shows a concentration of the practice in [[Peru]].<ref name="HistoryWorld"/><ref name='Neuro'>{{cite web |title=Pre-Columbian Trephination |url=http://www.neurosurgery.org/cybermuseum/pre20th/treph/trephination.html |website=NEUROSURGERY://ON-CALL/Cyber Museum of Neurosurgery |publisher=[[American Association of Neurological Surgeons]] and [[Congress of Neurological Surgeons]] |access-date=2009-02-19 |archive-date=2018-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181020221923/http://www.neurosurgery.org/cybermuseum/pre20th/treph/trephination.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/6_2Trephination.htm |title=Trephination, An Ancient Surgery |website=UIC Oral Sciences OSCI 590: Hominid Evolution, Dental Anthropology, and Human Variation |publisher=[[University of Illinois at Chicago]] |access-date=December 30, 2015 |quote=In Peruvian practice there is considerable evidence that many of the operations were performed for the naturalistic purpose of removing a bone fragment ... and trephination undertaken as a supernatural curative procedure by shamans (sancoyoc) with little technical ability as surgeons. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303170855/http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/6_2Trephination.htm |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }}</ref> Several theories question the reasoning behind trepanning; it could have been used to cure certain conditions such as [[headache]]s and [[epilepsy]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.brain-surgery.com/history.html |title=History of Brain Surgery |last1=Siegfried |first1=Juliette |website=Brain-Surgery.com |access-date=December 30, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Osler |first=Sir William |date=1922 |title=The Evolution of Modern Medicine: A Series of Lectures Delivered at Yale University on the Silliman Foundation in April, 1913 |series=Silliman memorial lectures |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.16616738;view=1up;seq=30 |location=New Haven |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |pages=6–9 }} See the section "Origin Of Medicine"</ref> There is evidence discovered of bone tissue surrounding the surgical hole partially grown back, so therefore survival of the procedure did occur at least on occasion.<ref name='HistoryWorld' />
The first known [[trepanning]] operation was carried out
Many prehistoric peoples,{{Which|date=December 2011}} where applicable (geographically and technologically), were able to set broken or [[fracture]]d bones using clay materials. An injured area was covered in clay, which then set hard so that the bone could heal properly without interference.<ref name='OCR' /> Also, primarily in the [[Americas]], the pincers of certain ant species were used to close up wounds from infection; the ant was held above the wound until it bit, where its head would be removed allowing the pincers to remain and hold closed the wound.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gudger |first=E. W. |year=1925 |title=Stitching Wounds With the Mandibles of Ants and Beetles |journal=[[JAMA (journal)|J. Am. Med. Assoc.]] |volume=84 |pages=1861–4}}</ref>
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== Dentistry ==
The earliest example of a drilled and filled in tooth dates back to 13,000 years ago in Italy where a tooth was filled with a mix of bitumen, hair and plant fiber. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/2127300-oldest-tooth-filling-was-made-by-an-ice-age-dentist-in-italy/
Archaeologists in [[Mehrgarh]] in [[Balochistan (Pakistan)|Balochistan]] province in the present day [[Pakistan]] discovered that the people of [[Indus Valley civilization]] from the early [[Harappa]]n periods (
== The problem of evidence ==
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== External links ==
* {{cite web |last=Sem |first=Tatyana |url=http://www.museum.state.il.us/exhibits/changing/journey/healing.html |title=Shamanic Healing Rituals |publisher=Russian Museum of Ethnography}}
* [https://psychedelictimes.com/psychedelic-timeline/ Psychedelic Timeline] by Tom Frame
{{Traditional Medicine}}
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