Browsing Category
Ancient
To Do As The Romans Did…
The Romans understood the role of dirt and poor hygiene in spreading disease and created aqueducts to ensure that the inhabitants of a city received clean water. Their superb level of personal hygiene and obsession with cleanliness…
Beer And Medicines In Ancient Egypt
In Egypt of the yore, medicines were usually mixed with beer, wine, or honey, and each of these had their own medicinal properties. Beer was the most popular drink, frequently serving as one's wages, and was considered a gift from the gods…
Greek Balneotherapy Or Hydro-Medicine
The ancient Greeks appreciated the effects of a good, long soak. The Greek physician Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) also wrote extensively about the healing power of water. Also known as hydrotherapy, Balneotherapy is hydro-medicine for…
Learn To Centre Yourself
Many ancient therapies used today include the concept of ‘centring’ yourself. To be centred implies balance, calmness and mindfulness of the present moment, and is usually achieved by a combination of contemplation and controlled breathing.…
Try Some Native American Wisdom
Healing methods used by Native American nations have a heritage stretching back thousands of years. Native American healing is based around spirituality, and traditionally holds that physical illnesses and ailments arise when your spirit is…
Blame Eating Too Much On Your Survival Instincts
In ancient times, when food was scarce, our ancestors ate all the food they could get their hands on before it went ‘off’. Researchers believe that when this ‘survival instinct’ kicks in, we automatically seek an energy-rich diet if…
Eating Meat Made Us Human
Anthropologists have found evidence that meat was essential for the survival of our ancestors, over one and a half million years ago. Say anthropology researchers at the University of Colorado, meat eating has always been considered one of…
Extend The Olive Branch
In ancient Greece, oil pressed from olives was a prevalent source of fat for the population and was widely used because of the absence of butter. It was used in cooking as well as spread on bread. The nutritional value of olive oil has been…
Figs Are Good…
Figs appear in the earliest recorded history with mentions in the Bible and other ancient writings. They were a staple food of both the rich and poor, providing energy and the highest mineral content of all common fruits. Cleopatra even…
How Ancient Celts Celebrated
Archaeologists excavating Iron-Age remains have concluded that they indulged in ‘competitive feasting’ and tried to out-do one another through drinking. Artefacts dating back over 2,600 years suggest beer was the ‘barbarian’s beverage’, the…
Have You Tried Teff?
Teff is one of the most ancient grains in the world, and also one of the smallest. Its name even comes from an old word ‘teffa’ meaning ‘lost’ because if you drop it on the ground you won't find it again! Teff originated in Ethiopia as a…
The Milk Of Human Civilisation
When did we start drinking the milk of other animals? And how did the practice spread? A new study led by scientists from Germany and Kenya highlights the critical role of Africa in the story of dairying, showing that communities there were…
AI & Ancient Texts
The Abbey Library of St. Gall in Switzerland is home to approximately 160,000 volumes of manuscripts dating back to the 8th century - all hand-written on parchment, in languages not spoken in modern times. Now, researchers at University of…
Globalisation In The Old World
Using energy consumption as a measure, a team of international scientists has found that ancient civilisations engaged in globalisation more than previously believed, suggesting that an integrated global economy is nothing new and may have…
Ancient Mayans Had Fancy Water Filters
According to the University of Cincinnati, ancient Maya built sophisticated water filters in the once-bustling city of Tikal using natural materials they imported from miles away. A multidisciplinary team of UC anthropologists, geographers…
Here Comes The Light!
Says a study published in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers used archaeological evidence of lighting remains found across several Paleolithic caves featuring cave art in Southwest Europe to experimentally replicate the artificial lighting…
Prehistoric River Boss Ruled Waterways
A new species of large prehistoric croc that roamed south-east Queensland's waterways millions of years ago has been documented by University of Queensland researchers. One of the largest crocs to have ever inhabited the earth, the species…
Victorian Treatment Re-tested
When patients said that travel helped to relieve the tremors of Parkinson's disease, a 19th century French neurologist took action. Professor Charcot developed a jerking chair to mimic the movements of a long carriage or train journey. Many…
Harnessing The Power Of Amber
Amber was revered in Ancient Egypt for its restorative properties and was believed to enhance immunity against illness and negativity. Ancient Romans wore amulets of amber to instil courage, disperse fear and protect against danger. During…
Ancient Strains Of Nutritious Plants
In ancient times, our ancestors ate significantly more fruit and vegetables than we do today. Not only that, the varieties they consumed offered greater nutritional value with a wider range of fibre and antioxidants. Scientists have…
Olive Exports In Ancient Greece
Market economy is largely considered a modern phenomenon. But, says a study from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, an integrated market economy existing in ancient Greece. By analysing sediment cores taken from six…
Modern Humans & Neanderthals
A new study from the American Museum of Natural History is the first-ever to identify the genes for creativity in Homo sapiens that distinguish modern humans from chimpanzees and Neanderthals. The research identified 267 genes that are…
Smoking Smooth Sumac
There were some non-tobacco plants in ancient pipes. Washington State University researchers have found that Rhus glabra, a plant commonly known as Smooth Sumac was smoked more than 1,400 years ago in what today is north America. Smoking…
Cavemen Liked To Recycle
Who’d have thought it? Archaeologists have concluded that our ancestors recycled stone artefacts for other uses as far back as the Upper Palaeolithic Age, 13,000 years ago. Stone tools found in Tarragona, Spain, suggest that sustainable…
Depression? Embrace Your Primitive Self!
Caveman therapy is a novel approach to treating depressive symptoms by embracing the healing habits of our ancestors. Research from the University of Kansas believes it could be more effective than either modern psychotherapy or…
Beeswax Cure For Toothache
Archaeologists have found a 6,500-year-old tooth in Slovenia that shows traces of a beeswax filling. This is the most ancient evidence of prehistoric dentistry in Europe, and was most likely used to reduce sensitivity from a tooth worn down…
Leeches May Have Helped After All!
The mediaeval medical practice of using leeches to draw out bad blood was abandoned in the 19th Century. But researchers have found that regularly donating blood can reduce your risk of heart disease if you have high blood pressure, glucose…
Native Americans & Cranberries
Native Americans used cranberries as a food, medicine, dye, and as a poultice to reduce wound infections. The berries were also added to meats to help preserve them during long sea voyages with the added advantage of preventing scurvy with…
Nurturing Ayurveda
One part of the ancient Indian healing system, Ayurveda, deals specifically with food. The concept is not about healthy eating, but is based around balancing physiology by including six different tastes in every meal: Sweet, sour, salty,…
Whose Moon Is That?
Says a report from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has identified a problem with the growing interest in extractable resources on the moon - there aren't enough of them to go around. With no international policies or…