New Year 10 class - Summer Homework.

7/17/2014

Your summer homework is to answer the small exam question below. You will need to use the website and resources that are here. This homework is also here to get you used to using my site. Please click the links below and familiarise yourself with everything...

Enjoy your summer.

Year 10 homework Blog - Homework will be placed on to this page and classwork you can comment on things below. Feel free to say hello.
Year 10 Lesson Page - This is where all of your lessons this year will be placed. The lessons up there at the moment are previous years work. Feel free to have a look at the different lessons.

History Forum - This is where broad historical questions will be posted. Fee free to answer the Questions.

Please answer the following question in the comments section below. Check back and see what others have written.

Q - How primitive was Prehistoric medicine and surgery?

18 Comments

kiera

7/17/2014 11:40:09 pm

It's unlikely that prehistoric people had amongst them anyone that we would recognise today as real doctors. However, if they were like the primitive peoples of more recent times, such as Australian Aborigines, they probably did have witch-doctors (a magician credited with powers of healing, divination, and protection against the magic of others.) to turn to when they were ill.
Prehistoric medicine and surgery was very basic their techniques were very simple yet efficiant. Archaeologists have found skulls with holes drilled into their heads and because the bone when it started growing was bowing inwards scientists can tell that the person was still alive. This surgery was supposedly to remove an evil spirit which was causing epilepsy or headaches.
However Australian aborigines were able to stitch up wounds and to set broken bones by covering them in mud and clay. Some historians suggest that this shows that prehistoric people could have known similar skills that we know today.
However Egyptian doctors were excellent at bandaging - we know that they bound willow leaves into the bandages of patients with inflamed wounds (willow has antiseptic properties). They could also stitch wounds. Archaeologists have found stone carvings in Egypt showing surgical instruments, and there are Egyptian papyri which speak of cautery and surgery. Egyptian surgery, however, did not venture inside the body. Egyptians doctors did not have anaesthetics, and had only herbal antiseptics - so successful surgical operations would have been extremely difficult for them to perform.
Overall we can tell that prehistoric medicine and surgery is very different to todays, with our new technology we are able to come up with more efficient cures and medicines, whereas back in the prehistoric times they didn't have any of these new software’s or medicines to help. Their techniques were very primitive and basic and they knew a lot more than they are given credit for.

ashleigh

7/25/2014 05:55:42 pm

Prehistoric medicine is any use of medicine from before the invention of writing. Because the timing of the invention of writing varies per culture and region, the term "prehistoric medicine" encompasses a wide range of time periods and dates.[1]

The study of prehistoric medicine relies heavily on artifacts and human remains, and on anthropology. Previously uncontacted peoples and certain indigenous peoples who live in a traditional way have been the subject of anthropological studies in order to gain insight into both contemporary and ancient practices

Yasmin

7/27/2014 07:33:16 am

Unwritten history is not easy to interpret and although much may be learned from a study of the drawings , bony remains , and surgical tools of an early man, it is difficult to reconstruct his mental attitude towards of disease and death. It seems probable that humans, as soon as they had reached a staged of reasoning, discovered by the process of trial and error ,which plants may be used as food, which are poisonous, and which of them had some medicinal value. Folk medicine or domestic medicine consisted of largely vegetable products or herbs, originated in this fashion and still persist. They were reliant on evil spirits being the cause for most illness.they were very superstitious. One cure for a headache was trephining (drilling a hole in the skull) they believed this would release evil spirits from the mind, scientists have discovered many people didn't die from theirs even though they were awake when the done the prosegure which means they must have had some sense about them. Overal there techniques were simple and primative. And our medical treatment is a lot more advanced then theres would have been. But due to my current research I feel that they were a lot less primative then we first thought as many people today still believe in spiritual healings and herbal treatments...............

Lauren

8/15/2014 12:46:29 am

Prehistoric medicine is always seen as simple and primitive and in most ways it was. The idea of using magic to heal an individual from a certain illness or injury is absurd, but in prehistoric times that was a main way of healing. However many of our ideas on surgery or healing do in fact come from them, such as the idea of a cast on a broken or dislocated bone to set the bone straight and although it may seem very basic, it is an essential part of our knowledge that we do not credit enough. In addition to that they found the effects of different plant materials through trial and error. Plant materials were an important cure for diseases throughout history. This fund of knowledge would have been passed down through the generations from prehistoric time to now. Although they would probably not have anyone recognised as doctors, they did have 'healers' who have passed down knowledge that has been a key element to our society of medicine and surgery today. So although some techniques were very 'out there' such as the skulls found with holes drilled into their heads, this surgery was supposed to remove an evil spirit which was causing epilepsy or headaches. However Australian aborigines were able to stitch up wounds not unlike the way we do today . Some historians suggest that this shows that prehistoric people could have known similar skills that we know today. So in actual fact was it really as primitive as many believe or did it found most of our knowledge today?

Lillie-May

8/24/2014 05:19:33 am

The idea of a prehistoric people wouldn't understand the height of technology and use of surgical instruments to treat patients is certain. We get many ideas to heal patients, for example: a broken, fractured or dislocated bone would've been set in a clay pot- we now call this a cast, and is made from much more modern materials. Herbal medicine is the earliest scientific remedies in medical practice, and they remain an important part of medicine to this day. The earliest surgical operation in human history is carried out in prehistoric times in several parts of the world. Many of these mummies have the hole in the skull which is the result of trepanning (also known as trephining or trephination).Healing in the bone around the wound in these mummies, and in skulls found elsewhere, suggests that as many as 50 percent of the 'patients' survive the operation. The reason for the alarming decision to cut a hole in a living skull is likely to have been religious rather than medical in any modern sense. To let out evil spirits perhaps; or to give spiritual authority to a shaman who submits himself to the knife.
Considering we take most of our medical treatments from prehistoric are they really as primitive as we believe?

Toluwa

8/27/2014 10:38:47 pm

Primitive people knew nothing about true nature disease, they are also people in modern ages who have seem to have built up a system of skills and behaviors that keeps them healthy in thier environment. Prehistoric people were similar to the few remainig of the modern age, it is quite obvious they knew little about the inner workings of the body. some of their burial practices was trephaning which suggest they must have knew something about bone structure. It is also possible that there life and function of the body were determined by the spirit because they relied on one of themselves which they call
the medicine man. he was the one who did spirtual transferring to thier body and relied on supernaturnal healing like making medicines out of sratch; which is expected of them because they have no knowledge of education...

Ruby

9/4/2014 01:36:13 am

In prehistoric times people didn't really have a clue about surgery or medicine . The earliest surgical operation in human history was carried out in prehistoric times in places like Europe , Asia and mainly Peru, where well-preserved mummies survive. Lots of mummies recovered are seen to have a hole in their skull which is known as Trepanning . The reason for this dangerous act was that it wa believed that if you drilled a hole into the skull then evil spirits would be released or to give spiritual authority to shaman , who submits himself to the knife.This seems crazy and we would never imagine doing this now in modern day times . However , primitive people were known to put broken bones in mud and clay to help heal them much like we do now to fix broken bones . Maybe prehistoric medicine an surgery isn't as bizarre as we think as we got some of our medical treatments from them.

Faith

9/4/2014 02:13:57 am

One of the main methods used by prehistoric people for healing serious or disabling diseases was in a spiritual or 'magic' way. This was because it was believed that people with such serious illnesses had acquired the diseases from a spell cast on them by an enemy, demon or the work of an offended god. As a result of this it was thought that the only way to cure these diseases was to release the extract the evil intruder. One method used to do this was trepanning, or trephining: making a hole, 2.5 to five centimetres across, in the skull of the victim. Such an absurd and alarming idea would be sure to fail but evidence shows that trephanned skulls founded from a prehistoric date had shown evidence of healing and, presumably, of the patients survival. The practice still exists among primitive people in parts of Algeria, in Melanesia, and perhaps elsewhere.
Prehistoric ways of treating a simple common cold or constipation were treated with simple remedies including the herbal remidies that were available. It therefore seems possible that humans discovered, by the process of trial and error, which plants might be used as foods, which of them were poisonous, and which of them had some medicinal value. Folk medicine or domestic medicine, consisting largely in the use of vegetable products, or herbs, originated in this fashion and still persists.
Finally we have carried on and developed the idea until modern day of healing a broken, fractured or dislocated bone by setting in a clay pot. However this is now called a cast, and is made from more modern materials.
So although it is quite certain the prehistoric wouldn't understand the use of surgical instruments to treat patients, neither would they understand things about diseases that we know today. It could be argued that from the amount of ideas, although developed, we have used from prehistoric time, that prehistoric medicine and surgery wasn't as primitive as we first believed.

lucie

9/6/2014 05:36:37 am

Although limited and dangerous some of the methods used in prehistoric times weren't all together ineffective. For instants they would put clay or mud onto a broken body part to set the bone; much like we do today with casts. However they also used to drill/cut holes into peoples skulls to release 'spirits' from the patients head (this was called trepanning). this was dangerous and would more than likely end in death. however In addition to that when the bodies of he patients were dug up it was shown that some people lived with a hole in there head. Now piercing someones skull like that and not making contact with the brain is a had thing to do you would have to get the depth perfect. so maybe medicine back then may have been unlikely to help the patient in some circumstances however it did in others.
over all their methods were more based on religious and spiritual means as far as we can see, than scientific.

abbie white

9/6/2014 09:10:38 pm

Prehistoric medicine is any use of medicine from before the invention of writing. This means that you would find out things through word of mouth. Prehistoric people believed that sickness and disease was caused by sprits which mean that most of the cures where ineffective. Some of there treatments would work for instants using clay or mug and putting it on broken bone to create a cast is pretty much what we to do today but we just use different materials. However they used to use a treatment called trepanning.Trepanning is a specialized form of surgery involving drilling or scraping a hole into the skull. This treatment was dangerous and caused many deaths. Over all medience in the prehistoric times was most likey not to work but in some lucky circumstances some survied. Prehistoric medience was mostly based on belief and religon then science. I believe that this is because they did not yet understand the body and did not have the education that was needed.

Ellie

9/7/2014 01:29:16 am

How primitive was Prehistoric medicine and surgery?
Prehistoric medicine was seen as simple and in many ways was. Unwritten history is not easy to interpret , but can be determined from descendants,prehistoric suggestion or proof, remains of bones,drawings,or surgical instruments.One of the many ways to heal in prehistoric times (and one of the most frequently used) was spiritual healing they used this method to cleanse the diseased of their illness/curse which they believed was supposedly put upon them by an enemy, an offended god or a demon.There is no document of archaeological evidence that proves how prehistoric people were diagnosed,treated or cured.Despite the lack of scientific knowledge and modern medical miracles we have today prehistoric people used plants and other substances to cure diseases.Its said that the natives of the 19th century knew over 100 herbs and substances that were good for curing.In prehistoric times the people wasn't evolved as we were therefore writing was not invented ,so people had to learn things through the word of mouth.Prehistoric people had bizarre ways of performing surgery for example- Trepanation has been practiced since thousands of years. It is possibly one of the earliest forms of surgical intervention on the head of which we have any authentic record and its practice is widely spread in space and time. Trepanning was where a hole was removed from the skull which was believed to stop headches and epilepsy.

Holly

9/8/2014 04:06:11 am

Q - How primitive was Prehistoric medicine and surgery?
Prehistoric medicine and surgery was basic, simple and mostly spiral. Prehistoric people didn’t understand what an illness was let alone find a cure. Australian aborigines didn’t understand the concept of hygiene as we know that hygienic ways of preventing disease was only started with Florence Nightgale. Yet they did understand that broken bones needed to be set and that bad cuts had to be stitched. We know this information from prehistoric graves of their badly set bones, we also know that they performed trephined/trepanned which was a surgery meant that they removed sections of aboriginals skulls to remove the evil spirit. They did the best of what they could which was mostly a “magical” cures as they believed that illnesses were cursed by demons or enemy’s instead of disease or infection.

Katie

9/8/2014 04:19:02 am

In the long process of discovering which plants are edible, humans in the Stone Age also identify many which seem to cure ailments or soothe a fever. Herbal medicine is the earliest scientific tradition in medical practice, and it remains an important part of medicine to this day - in a line descending directly from those distant beginnings. The early physicians stumbled upon herbal substances of real power, without understanding the manner of their working.The snakeroot plant has traditionally been a tonic in the east to calm patients; it is now used in orthodox medical practice to reduce blood pressure. Doctors in ancient India gave an extract of foxglove to patients with legs swollen by dropsy, an excess of fluid resulting from a weak heart; digitalis, a constituent of foxglove, is now a standard stimulant for the heart. Curare, smeared on the tip of arrows in the Amazonian jungle to paralyze the prey, is an important muscle relaxant in modern surgery. The long centuries of primitive experiment mean that Susruta, a physician working in India in about the 6th century BC, is able to list hundreds of herbal remedies. Even so, herbal substances form only a small part of the repertoire of the tribal physician, for it is generally agreed that serious illnesses have spiritual rather than physical causes. The doctor's main duty is to appease or expel the evil spirit troubling the sick person. Incantation, spells and self-induced trances (often assisted by herbal drugs) form the standard practice of the medicine man or shaman. Even the world's earliest surgical operation, practised at least 4000 years ago, is more probably intended to strengthen the doctor's own powers than to cure a patient.

Courtney :)

9/9/2014 04:28:28 am

Prehistoric medicine & surgery has always been seen as basic and simple. Prehistoric people did not even know what an illness was. One way of healing in prehistoric times was, spiritual healing. They used this method to cleanse the diseased of someone's illness. They believed was supposedly put upon them by an enemy, an enemy that offended god or a demon. Trepanning was where they would remove a hole from the skull to help reduce/stop headache's. In my opinion i think that our medicine now days is better as we can treat people without having to drill a hole in their head or cause them any pain.

Lulu R

9/10/2014 03:19:05 am

Prehistoric medicine included plants, animal parts and herbs. In many cases like this these resources were known and used as 'magical' substances by priests or medicine men. It is clear that prehistoric societies believed in both natural and supernatural means causing and treating disease. Plant materials like herbs were among the treatments for diseases in prehistoric cultures. The study of prehistoric medicine mainly relies on the human remains (bones, etc.) although 'Trepanning' (or known as Trephining) was a surgical procedure carried out by medicine men. It could have been used to cure certain conditions such as headaches and epilepsy. This was because it was considered to be a evil spirit trapped inside or within a person.

Hadleigh

9/10/2014 05:49:06 am

Pre-historic medicine was very primitive. Many herbal medicines were discovered in the process of trying to establish which plants were edible and which were not. In this process it was found that certain plants prevented certain fevers and illnesses. However, it was highly believed that many illnesses were of spiritual cause and not physical so many tribal doctors tried to expel an evil spirit they believed was the cause rather than treat the sick person for a physical cause. Herbal healers have passed on their knowledge from generation to generation for example Susrata in the 6th century BC was known as the founder of Indian medicine, identifying 1120 diseases, 760medical drugs and giving a list of necessary equipment for a surgeon. He worked on re - building a patients nose and therefore is known as the first plastic surgeon( amputation of the nose was a punishment for people who committed adultery). Examples of primitive treatment for wounds was covering with leaves, cobwebs, ashes and cow dung. In Africa the Masai stitched wounds together by sticking acacia thorns together.

Hannah

9/10/2014 07:16:22 am

Prehistoric medicine is any use of medicine before the invention of writing. We rely on human remains to discover what medicine and surgery was like. Trepanning was a basic type of surgery where a hole would be drilled into the skull. This was done to cure headaches by removing evil spirits. There were also medicine men (witch doctors). They would use charms, spells and amulets to ward off evil spirits. However there are some forms of prehistoric medicine that have influenced the way we treat injuries today. For example if somebody had a broken leg, they would cover it with mud or clay. We still do this today in the form of casts. Prehistoric medicine was very basic, but without it we wouldn't have the treatments we have today.

Aminah

9/12/2014 11:29:35 pm

Prehistoric medicine and surgery was basic, simple and mostly spiral. .One of the many ways to heal in prehistoric times (and one of the most frequently used) was spiritual healing they used this method to cleanse the diseased of their illness/curse which they believed was supposedly put upon them by an enemy, an offended god or a demon. Trepanning was a basic type of surgery where a hole would be drilled into the skull. This was done to cure headaches by removing evil spirits. Even though people may not think it prehistoric medicine has influenced they way we treat injuries today. For example if someone broke an arm or a leg we would put it in a cast whereas, in pre-historic times they would cover it in mud or clay.Their techniques were very primitive and basic and they knew a lot more than they are given credit for.

New Year 10 class - Summer Homework.

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