19 Customs Ancient People Had That Would Be Completely Bizarre Today Society has come a long way over the millennia. Yes, no longer do we have to use stones as toilet paper or drink blood to cure diseases. But in ancient times, that's exactly what people did. So next time you're lamenting all the terrible things going on in the world, just remember, it could be so much worse. Indeed, these bizarre ancient customs will make you so grateful to be alive in the 21st century. 19 Animal Dropings Were Used For Medical Treatments Modern medicine has come a very, very long way since ancient Egypt. After all, chances are your doctor won't be prescribing you a mixture of donkey and gazelle dung for whatever else you. Back in ancient times though, animal feces was a go-to remedy thanks to their supposed healing properties. But well, antibiotic substances have since been discovered in some types of dung that doesn't make the use of feces in medication any more hygienic. 18 Doctors Drilled Holes In People's Heds As A Form Of Treatment Picture it, you walk into your doctor's office complaining of a headache, nodding he reaches into a drawer before pulling out his Bosch multi-tool and drilling straight into your cranium. Well, that's exactly what happened in ancient times, albeit minus the power tools. Yes, trepidation, or a hole in the head, was used as a cure for all manners of ailments and disease both physical and mental. 17. Fathers Head The Legal Right To Kill Their Daughters Lover The overprotective father stereotype may be slowly going away of the dodo, but it had to have come from somewhere. One possible origin is the Roman law that allowed dads to do away with their daughters lovers if they were committing adultery. The law actually went a little further, in fact allowing fathers to also kill their daughter. We can't imagine many exercising that right today. 16. Fathers Head Their Right To Sell Their Children Into Slavery In fact, it turns out that in ancient Roman times, the patriarch had basically all the rights, and we mean all the rights. For instance, fathers could sell their children into slavery if they liked. A move heralded by Romulus that actually triggered the entire Roman slave trade. So we guess some unloving dads must have taken up the opportunity. 15. Garlic Was Used As A Pregnancy Test If garlic breath is your worst nightmare, be glad that you weren't around in ancient Greece. You see, the Greek solution of determining pregnancy involved a raw clove of garlic placed near a woman's cervix before bed. If she woke up to find she could taste the distinctive flavor on her tongue, the test was deemed positive. Now that's some incredible morning breath. 14. Ancient Egyptians Shaved Off Their Eyebrows To Morn Cats It's no secret that cats were highly venerated in ancient Egypt. Indeed they were basically viewed as demigods, worshipped alongside the many gods and goddesses that the Egyptians prayed to. What a feline died then, it was kind of a big deal, and one way people mourned these catastrophic events was by shaving off their eyebrows. 13. urine was used as a laundry detergent In case you weren't aware, urine is full of a useful compound called ammonia, which you've probably seen on the ingredients lists of household cleaning substances. You see, ammonia is a very good base for getting rid of tough stains. Like in ancient Rome, people will collect urine and use it to wash their clothes, stomping on them to aid the process. 12. Gladiators Blood Was Used To Cure Epilepsy If you've ever watched a historical movie and thought how cool it would be to be alive back then, you may want to reconsider. After all, if you had any kind of debilitating illness, chances are medicine wasn't going to make it any better. Particularly when that medicine included Gladiators Blood, which people drank to cure epilepsy. Grim, eh? 11. Lad and Sulphur Were Used For Hairdye Modern hairdye is full of potential side effects from allergic reactions to simply ruining the quality of your hair, but all those pale and comparison to the dyes used by ancient cultures including the Romans and Egyptians. Indeed, their dyes often consisted of lead pastes, which reacted with the natural sulfur and hair. Sound safe, right? 10. Egyptian Eye Makeup Was A Lead Based Paste And lead wasn't limited to just hair dye either. Indeed, back in ancient times, a lead based paste was the foundation of Egyptian beauty and the consequences were often dire. Yes, the cosmetics often led to irritable skin and insomnia and they could even decrease the wearer's brain function over time. Be grateful then that you don't have to go that far to look your best. 9. Weird concoctions were used for contraceptives. One early Egyptian contraceptive actually worked in a similar way to modern tampons in that they were vaginal suppositories. The similarities, however, and there. Indeed, this particular concoction was comprised of unrepacacia, dates, and nearly a pint of honey. But while it seems that some of the ingredients involved did indeed help reduce fertility, we can't imagine that this method was very pleasant. 8. Murderers faced particularly unusual punishments. Specifically, the Roman punishment for parasite, the murder of a parent or close relative, was about as bizarre as the death penalty can be. First, the guilty party was forced into a leather sack, along with a selection of live animals. Often just snakes, but sometimes other creatures, including dogs and monkeys too. The bag was then sewn shut before being thrown into water. 7. Ancient Greek doctors tasted bodily fluids. Hippocrates might have been one of the pioneers of medicine, but this method seems completely foreign in today's society. For instance, the Greek doctor would often taste his patient's earwax, pus, and urine in order to diagnose them. We're guessing that your doctor probably wouldn't do the same. Even if you asked nicely. 6. Stones were used instead of toilet paper. Next time you're using a public restroom and have to put up with a single ply toilet paper, just be grateful you weren't around in Ancient Greece. After all the Greeks had a saying, three stones are enough to wipe. A phrase that would inspire fear and even the hardest of rear ends. Stones actually refers more specifically to small ceramic pebbles, but we can't imagine that being any more comfortable. Athletes sold their sweat. This is definitely one of the more bizarre customs held in ancient times, but we bet that more than a few of you would like to earn some extra bucks from an intense workout. Yes, centuries ago it was once seen as normal to scrape off and collect the sweat produced from exercising at the gymnasium as it could then be sold for medical purposes. Most commonly in fact the bodily fluid was used to treat inflammation. 4. Crocodile Dung was used for skin cream. People rub some pretty strange stuff on their skin nowadays, but none of today's remedies compare to the ingredients used in ancient times. Just imagine smearing crocodile feces all over your face, for instance as was the common practice in Ancient Greece. We're pretty sure we'd just put up with terrible skin if that was the only alternative. 3. Ancient Greeks held phallic processions. Imagine walking down the street, only to find yourself in the middle of a parade dedicated to phallic symbols. It definitely wouldn't fly today, but in ancient Greece it was basically the norm. The processions also involve people chanting curse words and shouting abuse at each other, because if it's already weird why not go one step further. 2. Ancient Romans ate alongside and fed their dead. Nowadays when a loved one passes away, a graveside visit to leave flowers is pretty much the extent of any interaction, but not so in ancient times when people would regularly dine at gravesides and even send food down for the dead by a pipes. Just imagine all that food going moldy underground as if a rotting corpse wasn't grim enough already. 1. Public toilets replaced to socialize. Bars, parks, local events, all normal places to socialize and meet people. But public restrooms? Yeah, try uttering a word in a public restroom and you'll be cast out as some kind of social pariah. Back in the days of the Roman Empire though, public latrines were one of the most popular places to chat, hang out, or even conduct business. Please share this video with your friends below.