I know this is probably obvious to most folks here, but History and Culture have some very strong connections with one another. Every time a noticeable change happens historically, it has some sort of connection with a cultural shift from around that same time. Not all historical or cultural shifts are good, but they do involve some sort of progressive change, some of those changes do cause progress in a direction we can see as harmful via hindsight but probably wasn't obvious at the time. The expression "the past is another country" has more significance than most people give it credit for.

Looking at practices that were done in the past with a modern lens can be as detrimental as they are insightful. We need to try putting our minds in the headspace of the era as much as we look at it through the lens of the present, only when we have a better understanding of both cultural periods can we start putting together things a bit more accurately.