Many ancient festivals had elements that were far from innocent, often involving rituals, practices, and customs that might seem strange or even disturbing by today's standards. From bloodletting, to...
When it comes to historical jobs that will make your skin crawl, leech collecting certainly tops the list. While today, leeches might be an oddity or a relic of ancient medicine, they were once...
During the Golden Age of Piracy danger was constant. Facing bullets, splinters, and diseases like scurvy, yellow fever, malaria, and smallpox, skilled surgeons were a necessity. 18th-century pirate...
A sharp increase in global antibiotic resistance has caused scientists to search for viable alternatives. But while innovative ancient treatments using maggots, leeches and honey are being...
The medical field has advanced significantly compared to where it was fifty years ago, let alone over 1,000 years ago. Although modern technology has allowed us to understand more about the human...
Bloodletting, or phlebotomy, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the surgical removal of some of a patient’s blood for therapeutic purposes.” Throughout the majority of history, this gruesome,...
Every year thousands of Venezuelans hike into the mountains around Chivacoa and practice fire, blood, and smoke rituals as they pay homage to their indigenous goddess - Maria Lionza - who is still...
It’s no surprise that the history of medicine had a rocky and somewhat gruesome journey before reaching its current, modern state. From the earliest meddling in surgery in Classical Antiquity to the...
A five-pound jade head pendant has been found at Ucanal, an archaeological site in what was once the Maya city of K’anwitznal. The massive jade pendant, the heaviest of its kind ever found, once hung...
The development of antibiotics and other antimicrobial therapies is arguably the greatest achievement of modern medicine. However, overuse and misuse of antimicrobial therapy predictably leads to...
