Mandy Bertram:
An Archaeobotanical Evaluation of Ibn al Baitar’s Herbal Remedies in the Archaeological Record of Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean Sites

Abstract

An Archaeobotanical Evaluation of Ibn al Baitar’s Herbal Remedies in the Archaeological Record of Near Eastern and Eastern Mediterranean Sites

Archaeobotany today is foremost used to examine dietary practices or changing patterns in exploitation of the environment. For the prehistory of medicine it could give an exclusive insight into the life of our ancestors, coping with their diseases. The collection of over 400 sites at the archaeobotanical database ADEMNES provides an excellent opportunity to combine the knowledge that has survived until today in the ancient medical literature with the existing archaeological record. When it comes to archaeological debris aspects like taphonomy needs to be taken into account attentively. However, several plants, appreciated for their healing properties by well known scholars and physicians of the ancient world, have been found regularly in the archaeobotanical record of these sites.

Language: english

Keywords: Medicinal plants; crops; ancient medicine; ancient pharmacology; archaeobotany; Near East; Mediterranean; ADEMNES database; Ibn al Baitar; herbals.