In a message dated 8/8/01 5:26:13 PM Pacific Daylight Time, [log in to unmask]
writes:

<< "We have our arts; the ancestors had theirs...We cannot raise obelisks a
 hundred feet high in a single piece, but our meridians are more exact."
 Voltaire
  >>
Nice quote... I've just read that somewhere!  I am sure you are correct in
that native/paleo people knew well how to take care of this problem, and by
no means did they die before it became a problem. Native peoples live long
and active lives, in general, and I am sure that paleo people did also. You
might find some insights by studying the ethnographic and anthropological
literature -  Native American herbal remedies, for example.

Charles
San Diego, CA