That's because they didn't have cranes and bulldozers back then, but I'm pretty sure we have stomach pumps in 2006....
It is actually just an extension (pardon the pun) of techniques veterinarians have long (again, pardon the pun) used. For example, cows are artificially inseminated in a similar manner, working from the other end of course.
This isn't evidence of backward, primitive thinking. Far from it.