PREHISTORIC MEDICINE IN KENT
There
is very little evidence for historians to use to write a detailed history
of how healthy people were in prehistoric Kent. Before the Romans there
were no written records, only physical remains can help us reconstruct
what life was like.
To
describe and understand the conditions in prehistoric Kent we have to
use evidence from other parts of Britain and make inferences, in other
words work out what we can from the remains left by other people in the
past. For the period just before the Roman invasions we have some written
descriptions. One of the most interesting ways of investigating the past
is to look at peoples who live in a similar way in the world today.
Archaeologists
are able to extract a great deal of information by examining the human
remains from a prehistoric burial...
Unfortunately there are problems using archaeological evidence.
- physical remains can only answer some of our questions
- it is a matter of luck because only some skeletons survive
- human bones are very rare
- many remains are damaged
- we know very little about what people thought, felt and believed.
Most people died
between 20 and 35
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Activities |
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| 1. |
Make a summary of the different types of evidence that can be used to find out about medicine and health in prehistoric times. Which of these sources are most reliable and useful to the historian? |
| 2. | If you had lived in Kent in prehistoric times how comfortable do you think life would have been if you were ill? |