In 1908, a team of archaeologists surveying Lower Nubia uncovered a collection of remains from elite cemeteries that provided evidence of early medical intervention.
Exceptional breakdown of surgical expertise across pre-colonial Africa. The comparison of trephanation survival rates really drives home how empirically grounded these medical traditions were, surpassing contemporary European outcomes by huge margins. Th caesarean section account from 1879 Uganda still blows my mind cause it basically showcased aseptic techniques decades before Lister's work became standard practice in the West.
Indeed, what I found striking was that knowledge of such relatively complex surgeries was found among groups that are underrepresented in African historiography, because they are considered stateless/non-centralised societies, e.g., the Kisii and Maasai
The advanced surgical practices of pre-colonial African societies are often overlooked, yet they demonstrated remarkable expertise. Trephination, for example, was widely practiced, with high survival rates reported among the Kisii of Kenya and other groups. I believe this challenges the myth that modern medicine is a solely Western innovation, highlighting the deep-rooted medical knowledge in African cultures.
Exceptional breakdown of surgical expertise across pre-colonial Africa. The comparison of trephanation survival rates really drives home how empirically grounded these medical traditions were, surpassing contemporary European outcomes by huge margins. Th caesarean section account from 1879 Uganda still blows my mind cause it basically showcased aseptic techniques decades before Lister's work became standard practice in the West.
Indeed, what I found striking was that knowledge of such relatively complex surgeries was found among groups that are underrepresented in African historiography, because they are considered stateless/non-centralised societies, e.g., the Kisii and Maasai
The advanced surgical practices of pre-colonial African societies are often overlooked, yet they demonstrated remarkable expertise. Trephination, for example, was widely practiced, with high survival rates reported among the Kisii of Kenya and other groups. I believe this challenges the myth that modern medicine is a solely Western innovation, highlighting the deep-rooted medical knowledge in African cultures.
Thank you.
I was worried when you didn't published last wk, thanks for this upload, stay safe.
Thanks Allen, i always try to keep my twitter feed active for any updates.
Nice.
Check out this book the later Dr. Ivan Van Sertima: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/blacks-in-science-ancient-and-modern-journal-of-african-civilizations--vol-5-no-1-2_ivan-van-sertima/273275/item/86760