title: Ritual male circumcision: a brief history.
abstract: Circumcision is arguably the oldest surgical procedure, preformed since before recorded history. This paper looks at its history and speculates on why and how it spread; at what it can teach us about the origins of the Bantu tribes of Southern Africa; all of whom practice circumcision, and finally looks at medical aspects of circumcision and its place in developing societies.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Doyle
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D001315:Australia; D002944:Circumcision, Male / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D007514:Islam / Q000266:history*; D007599:Judaism / Q000266:history*; D008297:Male