Prehistoric Medicine

1. BGS History GCSE Revision Tests Prehistoric Medicine

2. 1) Prehistoric people were nomadic. What does this mean? No fixed home They were always moving from place to place, looking for more food.

3. 2) What two word phrase is used to describe the way they got their food? HUNTER-GATHERERS

4. 3) Did prehistoric people have a system of writing? NO

5. 4) What are the two ways we have found out about prehistoric people? [2] 1) ARCHAEOLOGY – things that have been dug up, e.g. skeletons and tools. 2) STUDYING OTHER NOMADIC PEOPLE – e.g. Aborigines in the 1800s in Australia.

6. 5) What kind of beliefs or religious system did prehistoric people have? Believed in a spirit world. They thought that all natural things – animals, plants, rivers etc. – were controlled by spirits.

7. 6) What was trepanning, and why was it done? [2] Drilling a hole in someone’s skull. It was done to release the evil spirits which were thought to cause the problem (a supernatural cure).

8. 7) List two common-sense or natural cures. Broken bones were set in clay or mud. Herbal cures were used for stomach problems.

9. BGS History GCSE Revision Tests Ancient Egypt

10. 8) Who was in charge of Egypt? The Pharaoh (good example of strong central government)

11. 9) This strong government had what effect on where people lived – how was their life now different to prehistoric people? Strong government meant people were safe. As a result they could stay in one place, and start to farm. People were no longer nomadic (moving from place to place). They could now live more settled lives.

12. 10) Why could people now do specialist jobs? Because people were now farming, more and more food was produced. This is called an AGRICULTURAL SURPLUS. As a result not everyone had to farm all day. People became builders, traders as well as DOCTORS.

13. 11) Religious beliefs led to Egyptians doing what to dead bodies? Embalming or mummifying dead bodies. They believed the soul left the body when you died, but at some point it would return and need to re-use the body. It was vital therefore that the body was preserved.

14. 12)How did this process help medical knowledge improve? Priest-doctors learnt about all the major organs – heart, lungs, liver – as they removed them from dead bodies.

15. 13) At the same time how did this process limit medical progress? Full dissection was banned – as the soul would need to re-use the body. As a result their understanding of ANATOMY (structure of the body) remained limited.

16. 14) Who was the Egyptian god of healing? Imhotep

17. 15) What was the first ever natural theory of disease which the Egyptians developed? Theory of the Blocked Channels F irst E ver N atural T heory O f D isease

18. 16) Give an example of a common-sense (natural) cure from Egyptian times. Willow was used as an antiseptic.

19. 17) Why did the Egyptians think it was important to keep clean? Priest-doctors kept clean for religious reasons – out of respect for the gods. They shaved their hair, and always wore clean clothes – but they did it for religious reasons. Others in society copied them.

20. BGS History GCSE Revision Tests Ancient Greece

21. 18) Who was the most important doctor in ancient Greece? HIPPOCRATES

22. 19) Which medical theory did he develop? SENTOD The Theory of the Four Humours

23. 20) Was this natural or supernatural? SENTOD!! Natural!!

24. 21) How did this theory explain illness? KEY WORD = BALANCE The key to good health was to have all your humours balanced. If you were unwell it was because you had too much or too little of one humour.

25. 22) Name a treatment based on the Theory of the Four Humours? Bleeding Or, a patient with too much yellow bile might be made to vomit.

26. 23) What was another key idea of the Greek doctors? CLINICAL OBSERVATION Taking regular exercise and eating a healthy diet.

27. 24) Who was the Greek god of healing? ASCLEPIOS

28. 25) What buildings were built in his honour, and what happened inside them? Asclepions Patients were put in a trance-like state, and special healing ceremonies were performed.

29. 26) Where in the Greek world was a huge library established? ALEXANDRIA

30. BGS History GCSE Revision Tests Galen

31. 27) During which Empire was Galen a very important doctor? The Roman Empire

32. 28) Where in his early life did he learn new medical skills? (2 answers) 1) Alexandria 2) He was a doctor at a gladiator training school. Both taught him a lot about ANATOMY (the structure of the human body).

33. 29) Did he accept the Theory of the Four Humours? YES Galen accepted most of the ideas of Hippocrates and the Greek doctors – he was a Greek doctor himself. However, he developed many of his own ideas as well.

34. 30) Which new theory or treatment did he develop from it? TREATMENT OF THE OPPOSITES T REATMENT O F T HE O PPOSITES

35. 31) How did this theory or treatment work? Explain the logic of it, and give a specific example of a cure based on it. If you were unwell it was because you had too much of a certain humour. The way to treat it was with something opposite to it. For example if you had a cold, and were full of phlegm you would sniff some hot pepper to help you sneeze.

36. 32) Name another of his key ideas or discoveries. BRAIN CONTROLS THE BODY Through dissecting a live pig he proved that the brain controlled the body. Only when he cut one particular nerve did the pig stop squealing. PERFECT DESIGN Claimed that the Creator fitted all organs together perfectly.

37. 33) For how long did his ideas dominate medicine? 1500 years All the way through Roman times, throughout the Middle Ages and right up to the Renaissance (began in 1500).

38. 34) Give two reasons why his ideas lasted so long. 1) CHRISTIAN CHURCH ACCEPTED HIS IDEAS Because he spoke about “the Creator” the Church agreed with him. In the Middle Ages no-one disagreed with the Church. This was called HERESY, and you could be killed for it. 2) HIS IDEAS MADE SENSE / WERE LOGICAL There was some logic to the 4 Humours (which he accepted), and the Treatment of the Opposites (which he developed). They matched the 4 seasons of the natural world, and often seemed to work.

39. BGS History GCSE Revision Tests Roman Public Health

40. 35) Which four things made up the Roman public health system? [4] AQUEDUCTS PUBLIC BATHS PUBLIC TOILETS SEWERS

41. 36) Why did the Romans think it was so important to keep their army healthy? HEALTHY ARMY = HEALTHY EMPIRE

42. 37) As well as the army, which other group in Roman society helped build the public health system? SLAVES

43. 38) What problem had the Romans noted about living near marshes? Lots of people caught a fever as a result. We know today that this is called malaria.

44. 39) What did they do as a result? They drained the marshes.

45. 40) What important link had the Romans made which was key to explaining illness? THE LINK BETWEEN DIRT AND DISEASE. They had worked out that if you wanted to stay healthy you had to stay clean.

46. 41) In the hospitals they built, the ideas of which type of doctors dominated? Greek doctors, in particular: Hippocrates (4 Humours and Clinical Observation) Galen (Treatment of the Opposites)