Neolithic skeleton is UK’s oldest case of rickets, experts say

The skeleton was unearthed in 1912 by amateur archaeologists on the Scottish island of Tiree. Photograph: The Hunterian

Remains of woman buried in the Hebrides 5,000 years ago show signs of disease caused by malnutrition and lack of sunlight

Rickets is a disease commonly associated with the malnourished slum-dwellers of smog-bound Victorian London. Which is why it came as a surprise for scientists to discover that it afflicted a young woman living a pastoral existence on a Hebridean island more than 5,000 years ago.

Previously, the earliest known case of rickets in the UK dated back to the Roman period. The disease, which affects the bones, is generally caused by vitamin D deficiency caused by lack of exposure to sunlight and nutritious elements found in seafood.

Which makes it all the more remarkable that the new findings, unveiled at the British Science Festival in Bradford on Wednesday, concern a skeleton unearthed in 1912 by amateur archaeologists from a sandy bank yards from the ocean on the Scottish island of Tiree. [...] The Guardian  / Link 2


Journal Reference:
Ian Armit, Fiona Shapland, Janet Montgomery, Julia Beaumont. Difference in Death? A Lost Neolithic Inhumation Cemetery with Britain’s Earliest Case of Rickets, at Balevullin, Western Scotland. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society, 2015; 1 DOI: 10.1017/ppr.2015.7


Actualización 13-09-15: Mujer de la Edad de Piedra con raquitismo | Ancient Origins
Un caso de posible ostracismo a causa de una deformidad física provocada por el raquitismo ha salido a la luz en un antiguo enterramiento de la isla escocesa de Tiree. Los restos de una mujer de la Edad de Piedra, enterrada hace unos 5.000 años, presentan el caso más antiguo conocido de raquitismo en el Reino Unido, y resultó ser un trastorno muy grave en su caso. Sufrió una deformidad provocada por esta enfermedad, cuya causa principal es la carencia de vitamina D...  / Link 2