Ancient Humans Had No Doctors. So What Did They Do?

What Did Ancient Humans Do When They Got Sick? All research and sources are linked below. 0:00 The man with one arm and one eye 0:28 The myth: "nasty, brutish, and short" 1:09 Shanidar 1 and the man who should have died 2:25 The bioarchaeology of care 3:25 Neanderthal medicine at El Sidrón 3:56 Ötzi's tattoos and first-aid kit 4:18 Rakus the orangutan and the willow bark that became aspirin 4:44 Stone Age brain surgery 5:25 The healing dance of the Kalahari 6:21 How farming turned villages into disease incubators 7:15 Hammurabi's price list for surgeons 7:43 The healed thighbone and the first medicine RESEARCH & SOURCES ▸ Shanidar 1: hearing loss and injuries. Trinkaus & Villotte, 2017, PLoS ONE. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/art... ▸ The bioarchaeology of care, Man Bac, Vietnam. Tilley & Oxenham, 2011, International Journal of Paleopathology. https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au... ▸ The earliest toothless hominin skull, Dmanisi. Lordkipanidze et al., 2005, Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/434717b ▸ Neanderthal self-medication at El Sidrón. Weyrich et al., 2017, Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/natur... ▸ Ötzi's 61 tattoos. Samadelli et al., 2015, Journal of Cultural Heritage. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.culher.2014... ▸ Ötzi's birch polypore fungus and whipworm. Capasso, 1998, The Lancet, 352(9143), 1864. ▸ Rakus the orangutan treats his wound with a medicinal plant. Laumer et al., 2024, Scientific Reports. https://www.nature.com/articles/s4159... ▸ Willow bark as a fever remedy. Stone, 1763, Philosophical Transactions. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstl.1763.0033 ▸ Trepanation in the Cuzco region of Peru, 83% survival. Andrushko & Verano, 2008, American Journal of Physical Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20836 ▸ Inca trepanation vs. American Civil War cranial surgery. Kushner, Verano et al., 2018, World Neurosurgery. https://news.miami.edu/stories/2018/0... ▸ Boiling Energy: Community Healing Among the Kalahari Kung. Richard Katz, 1982, Harvard University Press. ▸ Social relationships and mortality risk, 148 studies. Holt-Lunstad et al., 2010, PLoS Medicine. https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicin... ▸ 61% of human pathogens are zoonotic. Taylor et al., 2001, Philosophical Transactions B. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2001.0888 ▸ Measles and critical community size. Conlan et al., 2010, Journal of the Royal Society Interface. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles... ▸ Dickson Mounds: enamel defects before and after maize farming. Goodman, 1989, Advances in Dental Research. https://sites.hampshire.edu/agoodman/... ▸ Dickson Mounds: anemia signs (porotic hyperostosis). Lallo et al., 1977, Human Biology. https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/humb... ▸ The Code of Hammurabi, laws 215-223 (L. W. King translation). Yale Avalon Project. https://avalon.law.yale.edu/subject_m... ▸ Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory, 2023. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/fil... ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ PEOPLE & SITES MENTIONED ▸ Ralph Solecki, Erik Trinkaus, Sébastien Villotte: Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan ▸ Lorna Tilley, Marc Oxenham: Man Bac, Vietnam ▸ David Lordkipanidze: Dmanisi, Georgia ▸ Laura Weyrich: El Sidrón, Spain ▸ Marco Samadelli, Luigi Capasso: Ötzi, Ötztal Alps ▸ Isabelle Laumer, Caroline Schuppli: Suaq Balimbing, Sumatra ▸ Valerie Andrushko, John Verano: trepanation in Peru ▸ Richard Katz: the Ju/'hoansi, Kalahari ▸ Alan Goodman, George Armelagos: Dickson Mounds, Illinois ▸ Julianne Holt-Lunstad: social ties and survival