Does the Surviving Palaeopathological Evidence Support the Case for a Medical Tradition in Ancient Nubia?
For over a hundred years, palaeopathologists have studied the ancient Nubian population, examining the patterns of disease and trauma evident in the surviving human remains. Despite the remarkable amount of progress made in this area, there have been few attempts to discern whether there is enough available evidence to support the existence of a defined ancient medical tradition in the country, akin to that in neighbouring Egypt. Given the lack of textual sources for prehistoric Nubia, evidence for such a tradition must be sought in the human remains themselves. Here, an assessment will be provided of the possible palaeopathological evidence for healthcare practices in ancient Nubia, focusing in particular on the artefacts from the first Archaeological Survey of Nubia. The data presented, although tentative, represent the first point on the road to greater understanding of ancient Nubian medical traditions.