Volume 5, June 2014, Pages 9–17
Advances in the Paleopathology of Scurvy: Papers in Honor of Donald J. Ortner
Research Article
Analysis of nutritional disease in prehistory: The search for scurvy in antiquity and today
Highlights
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- Analysis of nutritional disease in prehistory provides a review of the search for scurvy in archeological populations.
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- Current macroscopic methodologies allow for determining scurvy in the skeletons of children, but diagnosis in adult skeletons remains complex.
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- The search for scurvy in adult archeological specimens is comprised by interaction of vitamin C deficiency and iron metabolism.
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- Broader anthropological perspectives are warranted in further researching scurvy.
Abstract
In
this paper, we discuss the issues surrounding the study of scurvy, or
vitamin C deficiency, in paleopathology, and highlight the work of
Donald Ortner in advancing this area of research. This micronutrient
deficiency impacts collagen formation and results in damage to a variety
of bodily tissues. While clinical manifestations are observed
routinely, the lack of specific signatures on bone makes
paleopathological diagnosis difficult. Rapid growth in infants,
children, and subadults provides abundant remodeled tissue and an
increase in vascularization that makes identification possible in
younger segments of the population. However, diagnosis of scurvy in
adults remains problematic, given that diagnostic lesions are strikingly
similar to those associated with rickets, osteomalacia, and other
conditions. We argue that this confounding factor underscores the need
for a broader anthropological approach to scurvy research that expands
beyond differential diagnosis to include more accurate reconstruction of
diets and available resources, greater consideration of the possibility
– even likelihood – of multiple nutrient deficiencies simultaneously
affecting an individual, and the patterning of these deficiencies along
lines of status, sex, and age.
Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
