Pre historic cultures - research

Prehistoric peoples lived throughout the world and till date though research, modern man have tried to find out about the lives and diseases of the prehistoric people but could never really come to a conclusions about the complete true facts and discoveries they made and all the evidences and guestimates were arrived at from the excavation made during the modern history finding adventure and it has been researched and corroborated that the tribal and aborigines never new how the human body works.  Their lives were spent around gathering foods and hunting and taking rests with the exception of protecting themselves from other animals of the surroundings. 

The earliest prehistoric peoples had features in common whether they were living in one parts of the world or others, they were nomads, they were hunter-gatherers, and all got their foods without farming, spoke different languages and dialects, they lived simple life without technology and their main weapons for the hunting in the beginning were wood and then on stones, later on they advanced to spears, bows and arrows, axes, knives and scrappers and all these were made from wood, bone and stones and at that time there were no separate countries

During pre-history, people were afflicted with ailments and diseases, just like we are today. The only difference is that they had a very different lifestyles and lifespans from what is today and they did not suffer from the same diseases so commonly that we modern societies are afflicted with today.

The prehistoric period are divided in the four eras:

Old Stone Age (Paleolithic):

During this period, the people were nomadic hunter-gatherers.

New Stone Age (Neolithic):

During this period, discovery of farming and the practice of farming started and thus, people started living in one place and this become a common practice around the world.

Bronze Age:

During these period, mankind discovered metal tools and thereafter started the making of various metal tools for the day to day requirements.

Iron Age:

During these period, new metal (Iron) was discovered and greatly improved the tools and many new weapons that could not be made earlier were made. 

Pre historic cultures - disease treatment - 1

Men who were called Medicine Men, witch-doctors and various other names in various parts of the world were the first person the tribal went to whenever they were afflicted with any disease or injured during hunting or any other issues associated with health which stops the ancient mankind from performing their daily activities like hunting, gathering food, cooking, etc.  These Medicine Men used to gather roots, leaves, buds and herbs mixed it with various other ingredients and were put on the afflicted parts, they even performed minor surgical procedures even without the modern sophisticated equipment and accessories that are used currently.  Due to the healing that is associated with such herbs and plant based mixtures, ancient mankind believed them as a special person in their tribes, to be looked upon in case of any difficulties.  Another name given to these medicines is Bush Medicine in some other parts of the world, since these medicines are made from plant materials, such as leaves and barks and seeds.  Rarely has animal products been used in such Bush Medicines, not to say it was not used.  A point to note is that major component of traditional medicine in herbal medicine, is the use of natural plant substances to treat or prevent illness.  Remedies varied between various tribes in various parts of the country or elsewhere.   One such remedies are the Aboriginal remedies and there was no single set of aboriginal medicines and remedies.

Also to note is that in those era, herbal substances formed only a small part of the tribal physicians work, and it was generally understood that serious illness have spiritual causes and cannot be cured without the intervention of God.  Thus, the Medicine Man’s duty was also to appease or expel the evil spirit troubling the sick person.  Incantation, self-induced trances assisted by herbal medicines and spells formed a standard practice or rituals of the Medicine Man instrument.  These practices and rituals also ensured the strengthening the Medicine Man’s own place as superior in the tribe to cure a patients.  They are associated with supernatural power treatments ability such as charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits.  In some societies, like the Apache society, and many other societies, the medicine men initiate a ceremony over the patient, which are attended by their family and friends.  It consists of a magic formulas, prayers, and drumming.  The medicine man then reveals the nature of the disease and they can treat it.

These Medicine Man are believed by the tribal to be able to contact spirits or gods and thus use their supernatural powers to cure the patient and in the process remove evil spirits.  If this method does not work then it is believed that the spirit is too powerful to be driven out of the person.  Medicine Men are a central figure in any of the activities of the tribe and most sought after person in times of difficulty facing the tribe and thus because of their medical knowledge and the belief that they can seemingly contact the gods, they are highly revered or afraid of.  In primeval history, their religious and medical training were passed down orally.