Skeletal manifestations of rickets in infants and young children in a historic population from England

Megan B. Brickley · Rachel Ives

152 citations0/0 files storedAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology

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Paleopathology and ancient diseases History of Medicine Studies Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies

Abstract

Gross and radiographic changes characteristic of inadequate bone mineralization due to rickets are described in 21 immature skeletons from a 19th century urban population from Birmingham, England. The aims of the study are as follows: to evaluate and if possible augment existing dry-bone criteria for the recognition of rickets in immature skeletal remains; to investigate the value of radiography for the paleopathological diagnosis of rickets; and to compare and contrast the expression of rickets in this group with that previously documented for a rural agrarian population from Wharram Percy, England. Some gross skeletal signs of rickets which were not previously well-documented in paleopathological studies are noted. The worth of radiography for evaluating structural changes to both cortical and trabecular bone in the disease is demonstrated, and features useful for the interpretation of vitamin D deficiency are discussed. The pattern of skeletal elements affected and the severity of changes differs in the Birmingham group from that seen in the comparative rural population. It is emphasized that a variety of factors may influence the expression of rickets in paleopathological material, including rate of skeletal growth, age cohort affected, and intensity of vitamin D deficiency. Nevertheless, careful analysis, not only of the frequency of rickets but also of the degree of severity of lesions and the patterning with respect to skeletal elements affected, may enable more nuanced understanding of the biocultural context of the disease in earlier populations.

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References

1994Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains 2003Identification of Pathological Conditions in Human Skeletal Remains 2001Developmental juvenile osteology.2000Developmental Juvenile Osteology 2010The Archaeology of Human Bones 1998Growth patterns in the modern human skeleton 1998Dry-bone manifestations of rickets in infancy and early childhood 2002The Archaeology of Human Bones

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2017Child Bioarchaeology: Perspectives on the Past 10 Years 2018Latitude, urbanization, age, and sex as risk factors for vitamin D deficiency disease in the Roman Empire 2006An investigation of skeletal indicators of vitamin D deficiency in adults: Effective markers for interpreting past living conditions and pollution levels in 18th and 19th century Birmingham, England 2007Gross enamel hypoplasia in molars from subadults in a 16th–18th century London graveyard 2016In sickness and in death: Assessing frailty in human skeletal remains

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