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A History of Herbalism

By May 18, 2025One Comment

Timeline of Herbalism Through History

~60,000 BCE – Prehistoric Herbalism

Burial in Shanidar Cave (Iraq) contained pollen from medicinal plants like yarrow and ephedra, possibly the earliest evidence of intentional herbal use—though some archaeologists dispute this interpretation.
Oral traditions in foraging societies passed down plant knowledge globally: tea tree in Australia, kava in Polynesia, coca in the Andes, white sage in California.

Indigenous Herbal Traditions – The Oldest Living Systems

Long before written records, Indigenous peoples around the world practiced sophisticated herbal medicine based on direct relationship with land, spirit, and story.
Knowledge passed through apprenticeship, ceremony, and oral tradition—not written texts.

    • Examples:
      Devil’s claw, hoodia (San and Khoi of southern Africa)
      Noni, kava (Polynesia and Melanesia)
      Echinacea, sweetgrass, white sage (North America)
      Ayahuasca, coca, uña de gato (Amazonia)

These systems continue today, though often marginalized or appropriated by Western herbal frameworks.

~3000 BCE – Egypt: First Documented Herbal Texts

Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE): Lists over 850 plant remedies including garlic, aloe, cannabis, and myrrh.
Healing deeply tied to religion and ritual; many formulas invoked gods or protective spirits.
Also included surgical methods, cosmetics, and aromatic plant use.

~2500–200 BCE – Ayurveda Develops in India

Rooted in oral tradition, codified in Charaka Samhita and Sushruta Samhita (compiled ~600–200 BCE).
Hundreds of herbs described, including turmeric, ashwagandha, and tulsi.
Focused on constitution (doshas), digestion, and seasonal rhythms. Still widely practiced.

~2000 BCE – Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)

Herbal knowledge attributed to Shennong, mythic herbalist-emperor.
Shennong Ben Cao Jing (~200 CE, Han dynasty): classifies herbs by taste, temperature, and organ affinity.
Common herbs: astragalus, ginseng, reishi, licorice.

~500 BCE – Greece: Rational Herbalism and Humoral Theory

Hippocrates advanced health through diet, herbs, and balance of four humors.
Theophrastus catalogued hundreds of plants in Historia Plantarum.
Herbs like mint, willow, and fennel were central to classical medicine.

~100 CE – Roman Expansion and Codification

Dioscorides authored De Materia Medica, used for over 1,500 years.
Romans spread herbal knowledge via conquest, trade, and infrastructure (baths, roads).
Introduced southern European herbs across the empire.

200–1000 CE – Monastic & Islamic Preservation

Christian monasteries maintained gardens and copied texts during Europe’s intellectual decline.
Cultivated sage, valerian, comfrey, lavender.
Hildegard von Bingen (1098–1179): Authored Physica, blending herbal energetics and theology.
Avicenna (Ibn Sina) wrote Canon of Medicine, synthesizing Greco-Roman and Persian knowledge—used in Europe until the 1600s.

1000–1400 – Medieval European Herbalism

Illustrated herbals like Leechbooks and Tacuinum Sanitatis widely circulated.
Women’s folk healing traditions persisted outside formal institutions—often persecuted.
“Wort” and “officinalis” terms are common: meaning medicinal and “official” herbs in apothecaries – examples include St. John’s wort, Melissa officinalis.

1400–1600 – Renaissance & Printing Revolution

Printing press allowed widespread herbal education.
De Historia Stirpium by Fuchs (1542)
Herball by Gerard (1597)
Botanical gardens and the academic study of plants began to replace folk use.
Colonization began bringing herbs like cacao, tobacco, and cinchona to Europe.

1600–1800 – Apothecaries & Colonial Exchange

Apothecaries were trusted healthcare providers using whole plant remedies.
Colonists learned from Indigenous healers and midwives—then often suppressed them.
Folk, enslaved, and Indigenous medicine continued in secret or syncretized forms.

1700s – Linnaean Naming System

Carl Linnaeus standardized botanical classification with binomial names.
Examples: Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s wort), Valeriana officinalis.

1800s – Birth of Modern Pharmacology

Active constituents isolated:
Morphine from opium
Quinine from cinchona
Salicin from willow bark
Digitalis, atropine, and others
The shift toward reductionism began – isolating molecules rather than using whole plants.

1900–1940 – Decline of Herbal Medicine in the West

Flexner Report (1910) led to closure of herbal, Black, Indigenous, and homeopathic schools.
Herbalism labeled “unscientific” and driven out of medical education.
Eclectic and Thomsonian doctors persisted briefly in U.S. before disappearing

1950s–1970s – The Herbal Lull

Pharmaceuticals dominated medicine.
Herbalism survived mainly through immigrants, rural communities, and family transmission.
Many herbal remedies are thought of as  “old wives’ remedies.”

1960s–1980s – Herbal Revival & Counterculture

Back-to-the-land, natural birth, and feminist movements revived folk medicine.
Herbalists like Juliette de Bairacli Levy, Jethro Kloss, Susun Weed, Rosemary Gladstar, and Michael Tierra inspired modern generations.
Focus on reclaiming ancestral practices, sovereignty, and whole-person care.

1980s–1990s – Professionalization & Herbal Industry Growth

Rise of formal herbal schools and publications.
Creation of United Plant Savers (1994) to protect endangered herbs.
Companies like Herb Pharm and Mountain Rose Herbs promote higher standards for herbs and preparations and push forward access.
Fusion of Western, TCM, and Ayurvedic traditions in education.

2000s–2010s – Clinical Herbalism and Expanded Access

Emergence of clinical herbalists using lab tests, drug interaction safety, and individualized energetics.
Rise of online courses and schools; expanded reach through the internet.
FDA regulation (via DSHEA Act of 1994) affected how herbs could be marketed.
Botanical medicine integrated into some functional and naturopathic practices.

2020s – Conscious Practices and Digital Platforms

Focus shifts toward bioregional herbalism, sustainability, and land rematriation.
Resurgence of BIPOC-, queer-, and Indigenous-led herbal collectives.
Rapid herbal education and misinformation spread through social media
Climate crisis, ecological grief, and resilience now central themes in modern herbal work.

Resources for Herbal Texts

 

Ancient & Classical Herbal Texts

Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE, Egypt)

Charaka Samhita (India)

Sushruta Samhita (India)

  • English Translation by Kaviraj Kunja Lal Bhishagratna: Internet Archive
  • Sanskrit Edition by National Institute of Indian Medical Heritage: NIIMH

Shennong Ben Cao Jing (China)

Historia Plantarum by Theophrastus (Greece)

De Materia Medica by Dioscorides (Roman Empire)

Medieval & Renaissance Herbal Texts

Physica by Hildegard von Bingen (12th Century)

Canon of Medicine by Avicenna (11th Century)

De Historia Stirpium by Leonhart Fuchs (1542)

Herball by John Gerard (1597)

One Comment

  • Laura says:
    May 19, 2025 at 12:41 pm

    This is so informative! I was born between lull and revival and felt the sting of the “old wives’ tale mentality.

    Reply

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