The ancient Sumerian god Ningishzida, the patron of medicine, accompanied by two gryphons. It is the oldest known image of a caduceus, the symbol of medicine in the form of two snakes coiled around an axial rod. It dates from more than 4000 years ago

Prehistoric medicine incorporated plants (herbalism), animal parts and minerals. In many cases these materials were used ritually as magical substances by priests, shamans, or medicine men. Well-known spiritual systems include animism (the notion of inanimate objects having spirits), spiritualism (an appeal to gods or communion with ancestor spirits); shamanism (the vesting of an individual with mystic powers); and divination (magically obtaining the truth). The field of medical anthropology studies the various prehistoric medical systems and their interaction with society.