2024-05-02 05:05:16
According to a new analysis, a surprising number of children suffered from the vitamin C deficiency disease scurvy between the 7th and 10th centuries in three early medieval settlements in Carinthia’s Jauntal. “It is very unusual that such a high number of scurvy cases can be identified so precisely,” said bioarchaeologist Magdalena Srienc-Ściesiek to the APA. Seasonal fluctuations in available food as well as political changes might have been the trigger.
The results showed that scurvy was common in this Alpine region, especially around birth in infants and young children, explained Srienc-Ściesiek, who is also the first author of a study published in the “International Journal of Paleopathology.” Specific areas, such as the eye sockets, the area around the skullcap and the shoulders, allow for posthumous detection of the disease normally associated with seafarers, with certain combinations of bone changes. In most cases, archaeologists would only find around one or two rather ambiguous cases per excavation.
The team of researchers from the University of Vienna and the Austrian Archaeological Institute (ÖAI) of the Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) analyzed the remains of 86 sub-adult individuals from what is now Carinthia for such skeletal features. The result: unborn children and infants had a high prevalence of 46 and 27.5 percent respectively – but no signs might be found in adolescents and adults. Bones from the seventh to tenth centuries found during excavations in Grabelsdorf (Slovene: Grabalja vas), Jaunstein (Podjuna) and on Hemmaberg (Sveta Hema) were examined.
“It is difficult to say whether the individuals died from the disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, which weakens the immune system, but it was most likely a contributing factor,” said Srienc-Ściesiek. Other symptoms of scurvy include dizziness, irritability and bleeding gums. The fact that children under the age of three were particularly affected can probably be explained by the higher bone turnover in the growing skeletons, which means that deficiency symptoms can be recognized more quickly than in adults.
Three different groups were identified among early medieval scurvy sufferers: In infants and unborn children, the vitamin deficiency directly reflected the general health of their mothers. In a second, slightly older group, the symptoms appeared during weaning. The introduction of solid food might have led to an unbalanced diet. The third and smallest group consisted of four older children who were approximately ten years old at the time of death. In general, the emergence of the disease is probably related to seasonal fluctuations in diet. “In addition, the fall of the Roman province of Noricum might have led to a change in trade routes and associated eating habits,” said Srienc-Ściesiek, explaining one of the archaeologists’ assumptions.
Overall, the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical studies in the valley would indicate such a shift in dietary patterns. “Further biomolecular studies will help to identify possible differences between the diets of adults and children more precisely,” said the researcher.
(S E R V I C E – https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpp.2024.02.002)
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