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Post by dreamguardian on Oct 10, 2008 0:57:29 GMT -1
Can anyone please help point me in the right direction for factual resources on the subject of pre-roman healthcare. IE documentation on possible treatments & medical skills etc of bronze ageperiod.
Thanks in advance for your help
Rob
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Post by Midori on Oct 11, 2008 14:49:43 GMT -1
Hmm, very little known about Bronze Age medicine, but Brochfael may have some clues.
Cheers, Midori
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Post by dreamguardian on Oct 12, 2008 8:54:14 GMT -1
Thanks Midori,
I only had a coffee with Will last Friday. Might of guessed he'd know Hehehe. I'll phone him this week.
Rob
Rob
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Post by arth_frown on Oct 18, 2008 14:02:45 GMT -1
At a guess a modern British herbal medicine book is as close as you are going to get.
At least you won't poison yourself.
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Post by Adam on Oct 19, 2008 17:20:10 GMT -1
The closest I can come up with would be "The Healing Power of Celtic Plants"... the author, Angela Paine, has some fairly impressive academic credentials in medicinal plant chemistry as far as I can tell. She tries to research likely uses of plants in pre-Roman Britain by using findings from archaeobotantists (pollen used to show plant distribution over archaeological periods) to argue that many plants with known therapeutic properties were growing in concentration around populated areas, suggesting deliberate cultivation, and using resources such as medieval herbals that seem to draw on earlier material. She tries to tread a line that avoids the trivialisation of Roman sources and the romanticism of the 19th century... I think that, at times, she failed, but I think she has made a valiant and valid attempt. There is a strong Graves and Matthews influence to her thinking about Celtic culture, so if that is likely to annoy, I suggest being prepared to suspend annoyance to get out of it what she seems to be good at  |
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2008 20:10:49 GMT -1
Hello Adam, Rob and All! I agree that Angela Paine's book does a nice job with pollen archaeology. I have major misgivings about the rest of her approach as it pertains to Celtic understandings. Her practical understanding of herbal medicine is sadly lacking, medicinal uses of plants is not a recitation of their active constituents---sorry if that seems harsh, this is my professional field of endeavor and I tend to take it rather seriously Recreating a medical system from an ancient time involves understanding basic conceptions of how those ancient people saw their physical body as an embodiment of some "spiritual consciousness". In the absence of scientific materialism (which, I am sure that we will talk about in this context  ) the ways that people saw health, healing and the items in their world that were conducive to maintenance of health and procurement of healing were primarily empirical but also an extension of their cosmological worldview. I believe that recreating that fundamental worldview is step one. I have amassed a large amount of material on this subject as it pertains to Celtic people at large and drawn from material as diverse as Old irish law tracts, Greek and Roman conceptions, and other PIE sources. Although only a small fraction of it pertains specifically to Brythonic approaches, perhaps by sharing some of it we can extrapolate to Brythonic practices? I am acutely aware of being a "new guy" and I don't want to come off as presumptuous or pushy, but, I am excited about sharing some of my research with a group of similarly inclined and intellectually diverse people Kenneth |
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Post by jez on Oct 19, 2008 20:17:54 GMT -1
Have you considered that the Leechdoms etc of AS culture may include recordings of earlier remedies?
Quite a lot of OE texts have survived.
--
Jez
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Post by Deleted on Oct 19, 2008 20:32:08 GMT -1
Leechcraft: Early English Charms, Plantlore and Healing by Stephen Pollington and Aspects of Anglo-Saxon Magic by Bill Griffiths are both very accessible and good starts |
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Post by Adam on Oct 19, 2008 21:42:53 GMT -1
sorry if that seems harsh, this is my professional field of endeavor and I tend to take it rather seriously heh heh... good! It isn't mine, so I'm limited in my capacity to judge Angela Paine's book... I'm glad someone can chip in with more detailed knowledge, thanks ;D Although only a small fraction of it pertains specifically to Brythonic approaches, perhaps by sharing some of it we can extrapolate to Brythonic practices? I am acutely aware of being a "new guy" and I don't want to come off as presumptuous or pushy, but, I am excited about sharing some of my research with a group of similarly inclined and intellectually diverse people Kenneth Oh yes!! Hey, I'm a new guy but it doesn't stop me sticking my nose in left right and centre |
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Post by dreamguardian on Oct 20, 2008 6:25:50 GMT -1
Thanks for the info guys. I
'm also reading Doctors & diseaes in the roman empire at the mo. It's very too.good
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) the ways that people saw health, healing and the items in their world that were conducive to maintenance of health and procurement of healing were primarily empirical but also an extension of their cosmological worldview. I believe that recreating that fundamental worldview is step one.