Medicine
You do not always have to be in the same room, country, or continent to help care for others. For thousands of years people have been creating medication to help…
Marten Head
A Marten Head is a type of protective amulets from the Italian Renaissance. Composed of a thin sheet of gold, and tooled to simulate fur, Marten Heads were decorated with…
Masks
In light of the global pandemic of 2020, face masks have become a ubiquitous part of everyday wear, in order to keep ourselves and each other safe from disease. Wearing…
Hospital Real de Todos-os-Santos
The Hospital Real de Todos-os-Santos (All Saints Royal Hospital) was a major hospital in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1492, after obtaining papal approval, King John II ordered the construction of the…
Universal Caring
Caring for hurt or disabled individuals is a universal trait among all cultures. Archaeologists have found evidence of sick, hurt and disabled people be taking care of in almost every…
Margaret Mead Femur Story
The famous anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked what she considered to be the first sign of humanity. While the questioner expected an answer like cave paintings, religious icons, etc. Mead…
Scotland’s Potato Famine
The Potato Blight that ravaged Ireland from 1846 to 1852 was part of an outbreak that affected all of Europe. While not on the Irish famine's scale, the Potato crop…
Dioscorides’ Table
Born in AD 40, Anazarbus, Cilicia, Pedanius Dioscorides was one of Ancient Greek medicine's leading minds. A leading physician and pharmacologist, his work on the De materia medica would define…
Caring in Prehistory
People have always cared for each other in times of sickness and injury. While we cannot know what our prehistoric ancestors knew about healing and medicine, many skeletons have been…
Delftware
Delftware pottery originated in Antwerp in around 1500 AD. An Italian man called Guido da Savino created it, and eventually, it became associated with the city of Delft. The horrific…