The first evidence of the purposeful construction of the water supply, bathrooms, toilets and drainage in Europe comes from Bronze Age Minoan (and Mycenaean) Crete in the second millennium B.C. From the early Bronze Age city of Mohenjo-Daro, located in modern Pakistan, archaeologists have found hundreds of ancient wells, water pipes and toilets. In Egypt there are traces of wells, and in Mesopotamia of stone rainwater channels, from 3000 B.C. The earliest known permanent settlement, which can be classified as urban, is Jericho from 8000–7000 B.C., located near springs and other bodies of water. In this world guaranteeing pure water for people became a prerequisite for successful urbanization and state formation. Pathogens transmitted by contaminated water became a very serious health risk for the sedentary agriculturists.
This created a brand new relation between humans and water. Sedentary agricultural life made it possible to construct villages, cities and eventually states, all of which were highly dependent on water. This new type of livelihood spread everywhere and the population began to expand faster than ever before. Some 10 000 years ago, when people adopted an agrarian way of life, mankind established permanent settlements. Modern anthropological studies and recorded mythologies of indigenous peoples play an important role in these analogies while observing primates and other more evolved mammals can also give us useful information. Thus, in reconstructing the history of water and sanitation of this hunter-gatherer phase, we have to rely on the analogies of later societies. It has been postulated that the waterborne health risks of hunter-gatherers were small.Īrchaeological and written sources concerning water and sanitation can, however, only be found from relatively recent times. Occasionally people were troubled by pathogens transmitted by contaminated water, but the general aversion for water that tasted revolting, stank and that looked disgusting must have developed quite early during the biological and cultural evolution of humankind.
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Approximately 50 000 years ago modern man began to inhabit every corner of the world and people were constantly on the move. Modern humans (Homo sapiens) have dwelled on this earth for some 200 000 years, most of that time as hunter-gatherers and gradually growing in number. Finally, the major findings and their implications for current water management and policies are discussed. However, the second, third and fourth phases of urbanization are also briefly described. special attention is paid to the first urbanization of ancient civilizations, particularly in ancient Greece and Rome (Vuorinen 2007). This article outlines the importance of water throughout history.
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However, the importance of proper sanitation was not understood until the 19th century. The importance of good quality drinking water has been established for years.
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The availability of water in large quantities has been considered an essential part of civilization throughout the different periods: Roman baths needed a lot of water, as do the water closets and showers used in current Western civilization.
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Farming and the development of settlements lead to the beginning of the problem that faces mankind today – how to get drinkable water for humans and cattle and how to manage the waste we produce. This article examines the influence of water on public health throughout history. Our existence is dependent on water, or the lack of it, in many ways, and one could say that our whole civilization is built on the use of water. Water is life – and life on earth is linked to water. A Brief History of Water and Health from Ancient Civilizations to Modern Times