Diagnosing Some Ills: The Archaeology, Literature and History of Roman Medicine

This paper questions two points: the manner in which archaeologists interpret medical tools from the Greco-Roman era and how scholars of ancient medical literature disregard archaeological evidence in their interpretations of past medical practices. In this author argues that archaeology can contribute much to our knowledge of medical treatment in the past, but warns that until very recently the archaeological studies has remained descriptive, avoiding any theoretical interpretation: this may account for the neglect of archaeological evidence hitherto. The paper has already begun to change professional perceptions in this respect.