Lesson Instructions
Read the presentation and the brief summary of prehistoric medicine below it, complete the introductory exercise and print it.
Complete the diagram "Why was prehistoric medicine like that?" and print it.
Try the quiz and the extension

Summary from the BBC
Prehistoric societies

Prehistoric people were hunter-gatherers. They lived in small groups and constantly moved around the country seeking out the best conditions for shelter and food supplies. In order to explain the many things in the world they could not otherwise understand, they believed in spirits.
Prehistoric medicine

Medicine was extremely basic and what treatments there were reflected their close relationship to nature and their superstition about spirits. Though prehistoric people had very little idea of how the body worked treatments included:

* simple cures using medicinal herbs.
* setting broken limbs.
* blaming evil spirits for disease.
* employing 'medicine men' whom they believed wielded power over spirits.
* practising trepanning to release evil spirits.