HELP -history of medicine

[silverdale5]

can anyone explain what are the problems (if any ) in using Aborigines as evidence about prehistoric medicine
thank you

[dot.hawkes]

Well they live in Australia and so they are a bit of a long way away to study i suppose, presuming you are in the UK and not an Antipodean.

[silverdale5]

thanks dot, but i am using evidence already supplied which is supposed to be the nearest comparison to the prehistorians and i need to say why that evidence might not be accurate

[dot.hawkes]

How many aborigines did they manage to study that live the way their prehistoric ancestors did?

[silverdale5]

i will ask my history teacher tomorrow - should i use that as an answer do u think ???????????

[dot.hawkes]

well i know i have only seen the way the Aborigines live though TV shows, but they all seem to have cars and TVs and access to a co-op.

[New Yorker]

Difficult question this, by prehistoric, I guess you mean before we had the written word? Surely there are similarities? Aboriginal culture is passed on verbally, by the telling of stories passed down through the generations.They were hunters and gatherers, so being nomadic they were quite healthy, they ate fresh food and exercised. Medical problems were more about broken bones, cuts etc., rather than disease. Living in small groups, diseases like measles were not a problem because they require large populations.

[makemesmile]

I guess, as dot says, their living conditions are different, they're subject to more polution and (?) wouldn't they be exposed to more harmful sun rays?