ABSTRACT
This chapter places the history of the universe in a historical framework and explains how our prehistoric ancestors explained illness and injury and how they treated themselves. It also shares the latest research into how prehistoric people knew so much about their environment and experimented with plants and fungi that had antibacterial properties. The rise of the shaman as healer is explored. The Prehistoric Era is customarily divided into two periods: the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, and the Neolithic or New Stone Age. Life in Paleolithic societies, where people lived in caves and survived by hunting and gathering food, dates back to about 40,000 BC. The mortar and pestle are perhaps the oldest known tools associated with early pharmaceutical work that have come to be recognized together as the icon for pharmacy itself. The Neolithic Age and the Agricultural Revolution that accompanied it represented a major advancement for humanity, but it also brought about some unintended consequences.
