Research Training Program

Sara Marsteller
Cornell College
Mount Vernon, Iowa

Don Ortner, Ph.D.
Supervising Scientist
Department of Anthropology

"My interest in prehistoric disease is the product of a lifetime of events and experiences; but it only took a summer of actually holding it in my hands for it to become a passion."

Did Early Native Americans Suffer from Scurvy?

Evidence of diseases caused by dietary deficiencies found in skeletal remains from archaeological sites provides important information about the nutritional status of past human populations. Scurvy is a disease that results from a dietary deficiency of vitamin C. It affects the bone and therefore can be identified in skeletal remains. Vitamin C is needed to form collagen, the material that makes up bones and blood vessels. Without adequate vitamin C in the diet, defective bones and blood vessels form. Since bones and blood vessels are constantly forming and remodeling during growth, the effects of vitamin C deficiency are most apparent in infants and young children. Defective blood vessels rupture easily, causing bleeding in certain areas of the body that are exposed to even the slightest trauma. When this bleeding occurs, the body responds by forming additional defective blood vessels in an attempt to remove the blood clot. For these new blood vessels to get to the site, pathways, or tiny pores, must be formed through the adjacent bone. Sometimes porous bone is formed on the surface of the normal bone as well. In this research, skulls of infants and children from late prehistoric and early historic archaeological sites in Maryland and Georgia were examined for abnormal porosity and porous bone formation in areas known to be associated with scurvy. From the Maryland site 15% of the skeletons examined show probable evidence of scurvy but only a few possible cases of scurvy were found from the Georgia site. The lack of scurvy from the Georgia site is probably the result of an unrepresentative sample and not an indication of adequate vitamin C intake. Distorted age distribution of skeletal remains is a common problem in determining disease prevalence from archaeological sites.

This research was supported by a grant from the NMNH Office of the Director.

Letter of gratitude