I'm not so sure I agree with the "ancient" methods our ancestors used. Operations without anesthesia, sawing peoples legs off (without much more than a bite block), etc. There's a reason why the life spans are so long now (and getting longer) and it has very little to do with ancient medicine. Even when the Social Security Act was passed they didn't really expect many people to live long enough to collect it. So even in our lifetime we have seen quantum leaps in lifespan improvement, at least in developed countries.

In the late 1800's people routinely died from radiation therapy because they were clueless on shielding, exposure rates, beam collimation, etc. Even Western medicine has had a steep learning curve.

The so-called "ancients" lived a long life if they made it to 40.

Eric, surely you will (ahem) share some of your research with us ;-)