>As it happens, drinking water was commonplace throughout history. We have to remember that the notion that water could carry diseases is a fairly modern one
No, it's anything but new. People in the past might not know about viruses and bacteria and such, but they very well knew about clean vs dirty water, the dangers of some animal corpse upstream, and many other such things...
Ancient people had knowledge from experience of far more intricate subjects than "polluted water can kill you", without having to know the mechanisms involved.
No, it's anything but new. People in the past might not know about viruses and bacteria and such, but they very well knew about clean vs dirty water, the dangers of some animal corpse upstream, and many other such things...
Ancient people had knowledge from experience of far more intricate subjects than "polluted water can kill you", without having to know the mechanisms involved.