Maya health and medicine
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Medicine among the ancient Mayas was a blend of religion and science. It was practiced by priests who inherited their position and received extensive education. The Mayas sutured wounds with human hair, reduced fractures, and used casts. They were skillful dental surgeons and made prostheses from jade and turquoise and filled teeth with iron pyrite. Three clinical diseases, pinta, leishmaniasis, and yellow fever, and several psychiatric syndromes were described. Weiss documented the presence of "supra-inial lesions" in Zaculeu. Guatemala (Weiss 1967, 1981). According to the skeletal evidence, the first technique to be employed in skull opening was abrasion, which was combined later with drilling and cutting, Evidence for practices relating to health and medicine in the Maya civilization include several ways to heal the body.
In their extensive research on Maya ethnomedicine, Elois Ann Berlin and Brent Berlin make a strong case that alothough studies of the Maya have emphasized beliefs about illness that are based on supernatural causes, a good deal of Maya ethnomedicine is about natural conditions, their signs and symptoms, and the remedies used to deal with those conditions. In regard to gastrointestinal diseases, the Berlins found that the Maya have a wide-ranging and accurate understanding of anatomy, physiology, and symptoms. Furthermore, the remedies they use, including recommendations for food, drink, and herbal medicines, have properties that are not that different from those of the biomedical profession.
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[edit] Sweat baths
Sweat baths were used for a range of conditions and situations For instance, mothers who recently conceived a child would seek revitalization in them, and people who had a sickness would find healing power in sweating. Kings would also make a habit out of taking sweat baths because it left them feeling refreshed and what they believed to be cleaner. In addition, “Maya rulers performed ritual purification ceremonies to appease the gods and secure the well-being of their communities” (Benjamin, 2). It is believed that the kings popularized this method of healing because of their steady use of the sweat baths. The sweat baths consisted of stone walls and ceilings, with a small opening in the ceiling. Water would be poured onto the rocks in the sweat baths making steam, creating a modern day sauna. In Piedras Negras a Maya city in the Classic Period in northwestern Guatemala. In addition to palaces, temples and ritual ball courts, archeologists have found there eight stone buildings that served as sweatbaths or zumpul-ché, for the Maya royalty, this is the most in any city, although in other sites such as Tikal, Aguateca, and Nakbe, are well documented examples.
[edit] Massage
Massages were also used as a method to heal the body. One type of massage was the “abdominal massage.” This massage was used mostly to cure women of illnesses such as menstrual problems and menopausal discomfort. Bonesetters would evaluate the patient’s complaint and either massage that area, or they would break that portion of the bone and realign it. The term “bonesetters” refers to a modern day massage therapist although in ancient Mayan civilization they had somewhat of a different job. Evidence of this practice have been found in archeological digs where skeletons have been dug up with markings of this procedure. Bonesetters did not receive any special education for this practice, rather they learned from experience and innate ability. Today's Maya bonesetters in San Pedro Atitlán and Chichicastenango, in the Guatemalan highlands use this technique.
[edit] Plant and herbal medicine
Plants were also often used to cure sicknesses. In most cases, fresh vegetation was used, and it was, “applied as plasters to treat wounds, bruises, headaches, and skin irritations” (Kunow, 51). Sometimes plants were also boiled and used in herbal teas and/or in baths. Yet another plant that was used for medicine was chilli peppers. They were chopped up and mixed with other herbs to create a remedy for certain illnesses. The advantage of using plants and food was that they were readily available. The draw backs, however, are that some plants only grow in certain seasons and the amount of plant used to heal a person was difficult to determine. The use of Cacao is well documented as medicine
[edit] Shamanism
Many of the healers in the Mayan civilization were called shamans. These people were perceived as special because they could communicate between the mortal world and the spirit world. A shaman would come to the aid of an ill person, and communicate with a greater being of the spirit world to help the healing process.
[edit] Use of mind-altering substances
Many Mayans took substances to alter their minds. Some would smoke, take hallucinogens, and/or drink alcohol. Most alcoholic beverages were drunk at rituals, and were very strong. Narcotics were also used to communicate with the “unseen powers.” Many of these substances were not used to cure sicknesses but rather for relief of pain. The use of ritual enemas is widelly depicted in pottery and carvings.
[edit] References
- Garcia Kutzbach A. (1976) Medicine among the ancient Maya. South Med J. 1976 Jul;69(7):938-40
- Cichewicz, RH and PA Thorpe. (2006) The Antimicrobial Properties of Chile Peppers (Capsicum Species) and Their Uses In Mayan Medicine. Department of Environmental and Plant Biology. NCBI. 19 Sep. 2006. .
- Sharer, Robert. (1994) The Ancient Maya. Stanford.
- Kunow, Marianna. (2003) Maya Medicine. University of New Mexico Press.
- Anderson, E.N. (2005) Political Ecology in a Yucatec Maya Community. University of Arizona Press.
- Benjamin, Patricia. (2006) "Massage and Sweatbaths Among the Ancient Maya" in Massage Thereapy Journal.
- Ember Carol R. and Melvin. (2007) "Cultural Anthropology 12th Edition". Pearson Prentice Hall.
