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Herbal knowledge was typically maintained by women—the gatherers, the preparers, the ones who treated family illness and maintained household medical supplies. Young girls learned by accompanying mothers and grandmothers on gathering expeditions, learning identification through repeated observation in field, learning preparation through participation in medicine-making.
This knowledge was also shared communally. When particularly skilled herbalist existed in community, others brought their sick to her, learning from her expertise, observing her techniques. The knowledge expanded through this sharing while maintaining quality through accountability—if healer’s remedies consistently failed, people stopped consulting her. Success was empirically tested.
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