The history of mankind begins with the emergence of man on Earth. Modern historical science defines two eras in the development of mankind: 1) a non-literal history (primitive, or pre-class, era) and 2) a written history of humanity (from the 4th millennium BC).

Story

The history of the primitive era studies human society from the emergence of man (more than 2 million years ago) to the formation of the first civilizations (IV millennium BC). In terms of their duration, the primitive era covers more than 99% of the entire history of mankind (see Table 1). All subsequent periods of history (the ancient world, the Middle Ages, new and modern history) occupy no more than 1% of the historical path of humanity.

Despite the lack of writing (and written history), the history of primitive society is an integral part of the world-historical process of human development and cannot be defined as prehistory or prehistory, and primitive man as prehistoric.

The primitive communal system is universal: all the peoples of our planet passed through it without exception. In its depths there were decisive prerequisites for the entire subsequent development of mankind: cannon (or labor) activity, thinking and consciousness, speech and languages, economic activity, social relations, culture, art, and together with them healing and hygienic skills. The analysis of their development from the very beginning is of practical importance for the formation of the concept of the historical development of medicine in general.

Periodization and chronology of the primitive era and primitive healing

In the history of the primitive era, there are three stages: “the emergence of a primitive society (more than 2 million years ago — about 40 thousand years ago

(back), the heyday of primitive society (c. 40 thousand years ago - X millennium BC. e.) and the decomposition of primitive society (from X — V millennium BC) (Table 2).

According to the historical stages, three periods are conditionally defined in the development of primitive healing:

1) the emergence of man, primitive society and primitive healing, when there was an initial accumulation and synthesis of empirical knowledge about natural remedies (plant, animal and mineral origin);

2) healing during the heyday of primitive society, when the purposeful application of the empirical experience of collective healing in social practice developed and was approved;

3) healing during the disintegration of primitive society, when, along with the emergence of classes and private property, the cultivation practice of healing began (originating in the late tribal community), the accumulation and generalization of empirical knowledge of healing (as the collective experience of the community and the individual activity of the healer) continued.

Sources on the history of the primitive era and the primitive healing

The study of the development of human curative activity in different periods of history is not the same and, as a rule, is inversely related to the age of the epoch. The reconstruction of the history of primitive society is the most difficult: it has not left written sources, and the comprehension of archaeological and ethnographic data has quite objective difficulties and requires constant revision of our ideas in connection with new scientific discoveries.

Reliable scientific knowledge about the healing of the primitive era is based on data from archeology and ethnography, paleopathology and paleobotany, paleoanthropology and paleopsychology.

Archeology data

The main material sources of the primitive history are: tools, remnants of primitive buildings, sanctuaries, burials and human remains, objects of primitive culture.

The archaeological finds at the disposal of scientists constitute only an insignificant part of those objects used by primitive man. The reasons for this are twofold. First, archaeological knowledge on different continents varies. Secondly, only what remains in the earth for thousands and millions of years (the objects of wood, leather, bark or plants are not preserved) becomes the property of archeology.

Paleopathology data

Paleopathology studies the pathological changes of the remains of a primitive man, more precisely, of his skeleton.

Before the emergence of paleopathology, which, as a science, was formed about a hundred years ago, it was common knowledge that primitive man was completely healthy, and diseases arose later as a result of civilization. Very educated people, for example Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who sincerely believed in the existence of a “golden age” at the dawn of humanity, adhered to this point of view. Certain human diseases, such as silicosis or radiation sickness, are undoubtedly a product of the noosphere and are associated with the activity of the human mind (and sometimes unreasonable activity of the human mind). But this is true only for a limited number of diseases.

The concept of the “golden age” did not focus on human health. Nevertheless, the data of paleopathology to some extent contributed to its refutation. The study of the remains of a primitive man showed that his bones bear indelible traces of traumatic injuries (Fig. 1) and serious diseases (such as arthritis, tumors, tuberculosis, spinal curvatures, dental caries, etc.).

In 1892, during archaeological excavations near the village of Trinil on about. Java Dutch doctor and anatomist J. Dubois (Eugene Dubois) discovered the left femur of the most ancient man - Pithecanthropus

In France, the skeleton of an ancient man — a Neanderthal man (Homo neander-thalensis) —was found in the cave of La Chapel-o-Sen, whose cervical vertebrae fused into a single bone (evidence of arthritis). Several tens of thousands of years ago. Every fourth adult suffered from this disease. The effects of arthritis were also found on the bones of giant lizards - brontosaurs, which lived on the Earth long before the appearance of man.

Traces of diseases on the bones of primitive man are much less common than traumatic defects, which are most often associated with injuries of the cranial skull. Some of them testify to injuries sustained during the hunt, others - from experienced or unpreserved trepanning skulls, which began to be produced approximately in the XII millennium BC. e. (mainly for ritual purposes).

It is much more difficult to draw conclusions about soft tissue diseases - they are not stored even in mummies. Nevertheless, atherosclerotic plaques found in the mummies of the ancient aborigines of North America, buried in the territory of modern Kentucky (USA), indicate the existence of atherosclerosis.

Paleopathology also made it possible to determine the average life expectancy of a primitive man: it did not exceed 30 years. Until 50 years (and more) lived in exceptional cases. Primitive man died in the prime of life, not having time to grow old, died in the fight with nature, which was stronger than him. (It is important to note that the average life expectancy of a person remained at this level until the Middle Ages.)

So, diseases existed in primitive society and in any epoch of the history of mankind were, on the one hand, a biological phenomenon, since they develop on the basis of the human body in close connection with the surrounding nature, and on the other, a social phenomenon, as determined by specific us -.teviyami social life and human activity.

Data from written sources

The primitive era is a non-literal period of human history. Due to the unevenness of historical development, the transition to a class society and the associated development of writing among different peoples did not take place simultaneously. This allowed nations that had previously mastered writing to leave numerous written testimonies: to their neighbors who had not yet written.

Ethnographic data

Ethnographic studies of the healing of apopolyte foundry primitive societies (i.e., pre-class primitive societies, the era) are very difficult for me to be possible only on the basis of archaeological research.

At the same time, the study of the more nozhni - synpolite primitive societies (i.e., primitive societies of the class era, modern scholars who studied them) provides rich ethnographic material about primitive healing. However, here it is necessary to take into account that even before the epoch of the Great geographical discoveries, class societies already had an influence on the modern (synpolyte) primitive societies. That is why ethnographic studies of synopolistic primitive societies cannot be used for direct historical reconstructions of the most ancient apolithe primitive societies