{"title":"Evidence of non-adult vitamin C deficiency in three early medieval sites in the Jaun/Podjuna Valley, Carinthia, Austria","authors":"Magdalena T. Srienc-Ściesiek , Nina Richards , Sabine Ladstätter , Sylvia Kirchengast","doi":"10.1016/j.ijpp.2024.02.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objective</h3><p>This study aims to determine and discuss the prevalence of non-adult scurvy cases from the early medieval Jaun/Podjuna Valley in southern Austria.</p></div><div><h3>Materials</h3><p>86 non-adult individuals were assessed from three early medieval sites.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Morphological characteristics associated with suggestive and probable scurvy were observed macroscopically and under 20–40x magnification.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>A significant relationship between the prevalence of scurvy and age group was observed. Perinates (46%, 6/13) and children (27.5%, 8/28) showed a high prevalence of skeletal features indicating a diagnosis of scurvy, while no cases of scurvy were observed in adolescents and adults.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>In this Alpine region, scurvy occurred frequently in infants and children. Seasonal fluctuations of diet are discussed as factors triggering scurvy.</p></div><div><h3>Significance</h3><p>This study sheds new light on the prevalence of scurvy in the Alpine region and how the region developed after the fall of the Roman Noricum. It also models ways in which multiple lines of evidence can contribute to the diagnostic process.</p></div><div><h3>Limitations</h3><p>Poor preservation posed a challenge to identifying probable cases of scurvy. Likewise, non-adult remains are difficult to diagnose due to their developing nature and it is not always possible to distinguish between normal bone growth and pathological growth.</p></div><div><h3>Suggestions for further research</h3><p>Future applications of biomolecular studies will help illustrate changes in diet that may have contributed to vitamin deficiencies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48817,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Paleopathology","volume":"45 ","pages":"Pages 18-29"},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-03-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Paleopathology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879981724000159","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PALEONTOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objective
This study aims to determine and discuss the prevalence of non-adult scurvy cases from the early medieval Jaun/Podjuna Valley in southern Austria.
Materials
86 non-adult individuals were assessed from three early medieval sites.
Methods
Morphological characteristics associated with suggestive and probable scurvy were observed macroscopically and under 20–40x magnification.
Results
A significant relationship between the prevalence of scurvy and age group was observed. Perinates (46%, 6/13) and children (27.5%, 8/28) showed a high prevalence of skeletal features indicating a diagnosis of scurvy, while no cases of scurvy were observed in adolescents and adults.
Conclusions
In this Alpine region, scurvy occurred frequently in infants and children. Seasonal fluctuations of diet are discussed as factors triggering scurvy.
Significance
This study sheds new light on the prevalence of scurvy in the Alpine region and how the region developed after the fall of the Roman Noricum. It also models ways in which multiple lines of evidence can contribute to the diagnostic process.
Limitations
Poor preservation posed a challenge to identifying probable cases of scurvy. Likewise, non-adult remains are difficult to diagnose due to their developing nature and it is not always possible to distinguish between normal bone growth and pathological growth.
Suggestions for further research
Future applications of biomolecular studies will help illustrate changes in diet that may have contributed to vitamin deficiencies.
期刊介绍：
Paleopathology is the study and application of methods and techniques for investigating diseases and related conditions from skeletal and soft tissue remains. The International Journal of Paleopathology (IJPP) will publish original and significant articles on human and animal (including hominids) disease, based upon the study of physical remains, including osseous, dental, and preserved soft tissues at a range of methodological levels, from direct observation to molecular, chemical, histological and radiographic analysis. Discussion of ways in which these methods can be applied to the reconstruction of health, disease and life histories in the past is central to the discipline, so the journal would also encourage papers covering interpretive and theoretical issues, and those that place the study of disease at the centre of a bioarchaeological or biocultural approach. Papers dealing with historical evidence relating to disease in the past (rather than history of medicine) will also be published. The journal will also accept significant studies that applied previously developed techniques to new materials, setting the research in the context of current debates on past human and animal health.
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