This course is a survey of medicine, surgery and medical theory and practices from prehistoric times through to the early medieval period. The focus of enquiry is the evolution and development of a suite of medical traditions over time as informed by their respective cultural milieus. Regionally Europe (the Greek and Roman empires and Medieval Europe specifically), North Africa (Egyptian), the Near East (Mesopotamia), the Indian subcontinent, East Asia, especially China, are explored in detail. Sources for this survey include both received and discovered texts as well as a range of archaeological and osteological evidence.

(1) meet the course aims as outlined previously.

(2) become familiar and comfortable with a broad sample of scholarship on the archaeology, prehistory and history of medicine and surgery

(3) augment the ability to think critically about basic assumptions and conceptual frameworks in analysing medical issues, past and present 

(4) develop skills in oral presentations and debate and in writing about ancient medical issues.

Major Essay 4,000 words maximum (50%) Tutorial Tasks equivalent to 2,000 words (50%)

2 hours of lectures and one hour of tutorial per week

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BIAN6512 Ancient Health & Disease

BIAN6517 Human Skeletal Analysis

It is unlikely that I will settle on a single main text due to a lack of any current texts that have the temporal and geographic depth and breadth of this course. Nonetheless, I am reviewing a number of potentially useful introductory texts.