Prehistoric healing methods which may have
been used in Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and
Neolithic times, have been thought of as part of
the compelling forces that helped people find
food and other substances they needed to sur-
vive. Evidence of disease and injury has been dis-
covered in bodies and organs from as early as
4000 B.C.By the Neolithic period, people began to
produce food and were possibly aware that cer-
tain foods had medicinal properties. Trephined
skulls of the Neolithic period may indicate either
a medical or a mystical operation, which some
believe was done to let havoc-causing demons
escape.
Primitive medicine among peoples including
Native Americans, Inuit (Eskimo), and Siberian
tribes emerged through the appointment of
shamans, witch doctors, and medicine men and
women, some of whom were chosen because they
seemed to possess psychic ability. Illness of any
kind was treated with a variety of therapies—
herbal remedies, religious rites, chants, prayers,
elaborate ceremonies, and techniques of cupping,
sucking, bleeding, fumigating, steam baths,
cautery, tourniquet, reduction of dislocations,
wound care, and others.
Ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Egyptians,
Indians, Mesopotamians, and other peoples prac-
ticed herbalism and holistic medicine. Using nat-
ural methods including massage, nutrition,
meditation, exercise, and herbal and other thera-
pies, healers focused on balancing a main life force,
or vital energy, present in the human body to
restore or maintain health.
2000–1501B.C.
Four basic elements are acknowledged in India:
earth, air, fire, and water.Fourth century B.C.
The Greek physician Hippocrates advocates natural
remedies and a holistic approach to medical treat-
ment. He is known as the “Father of Medicine.”Second century A.D.
Galen uses holistic methods in his medical practice.
During the years 151–200 he extracts plant juices
for medicinal purposes.The Greek physician Asclepiades practices nature
healing in Rome.11th century
Trotula, of Salerno, Italy (d. 1097), a woman sur-
geon, practices medicine using nutrition, herbal
baths, and herbalism as therapy.The German abbess Mechthild of Magdeburg
(1212–1283) practices preventive medicine,
employing sunlight, music, the natural world, and
hygiene.12th century
The abbess, musician, artist, and healer Hildegard
von Bingen, Germany, writes Physica(The Book of
Simples), which describes more than 300 medicinal
plants. Hildegard believes disease stems from245