The origins of healthcare in its social context

We know surprisingly little about when, where or how interpersonal care for individuals who were ill or injured first emerged in the distant past. The answer to this question is however key to understanding not only the origins of healthcare and medicine but also important evolutionary transitions in human social relationships. To address this gap in our knowledge this project will collate and map skeletal evidence for unusual cases of recovery from illnesses and injuries in the distant evolutionary past, using an existing dataset with additions, and set this within the context of key characteristics of species, environment and social context. By collecting together and analysing this evidence the project will contribute an important element to funding applications on earliest healthcare and its social significance, as well as to new research papers.