Herbal Medicine
The beginning of herbal medicine can be traced to ancient times. Primitive humans realized early that they strongly depended on nature for illness and everyday health. Early civilizations used their instincts, experiences, and tastes to figure out that they could use plants, minerals, and animal parts that were not part of their usual diet to treat their illnesses. The actual physical evidence of the first uses of herbal medicine dates back to the Neanderthals. A scientist discovered the bones of a Neanderthal man surrounded by plant pollens and herbs that were unmistakably placed there. The community in which the man lived placed eight distinct parts of plants around the man. The plants that were found are still used in many cultures today. Cultures all over the world have been using herbal medicines for ages. The first written records of herbal knowledge were found in the Middle East. Clay tablets from the Mesopotamian area, and papyrus papers from Egypt were found with ingredients for herbal medicines, and the ailments that they treated. Next came the Greco-Roman period that brought about the use of the first herbal medicine books.
