'Acute Rickets' - Appraisal of Rickets and Scurvy, and their Co-Occurence, in Past Communities

Conférencière invitée : Megan Brickley, Professor and Tier I Canada Research Chair in the Bioarchaeology of Human Disease, Department of Anthropology, McMaster University.

The first clear description of rickets and scurvy as distinct diseases was provided by Thomas Barlow in 1883.  Barlow also describes a number of cases where the two diseases occur together, which had previously been described as ‘acute rickets’ – a term Barlow suggested abolishing.  The range of socio-cultural interpretations that can be made regarding rickets and scurvy (caused by deficiency of vitamins D and C) make them a valuable source of information on many aspects of life in the past, and paleopathologists have recently made significant advances in their diagnosis.  Recognition of cases of co-occurrence would provide more nuanced information on the experience of those in past communities, but to date few such cases have been identified.  This paper will consider recent advances and potential future research possibilities for recognition and interpretation of these conditions.

Conférence organisée par le Département d'anthropologie de l'Université de Montréal