Mobility and rickets: Investigating Vitamin D deficiency and regional mobility in Aventicum, Roman Switzerland (first to third century CE)

Abstract

The aims of this study are twofold: first, to consider Vitamin D deficiency during two periods of growth and, second, consider Vitamin D deficiency with respect to evidence for migration and mobility in a skeletal assemblage (n = 169) from Aventicum, Roman Switzerland (first to third century CE). Vitamin D deficiency was evaluated macroscopically, and individuals with evidence of Vitamin D deficiency (n = 3) were assessed histologically for interglobular dentine. Dentine was examined from teeth that span from 6 months to 18 years of age. Enamel from an incisor and third molar of possibly deficient individuals were also explored for evidence of migration using oxygen isotope analysis. The only skeletal evidence for Vitamin D deficiency occurred in three adult individuals (two males and one female, all aged 25–35). All three individuals showed skeletal and histological evidence of early childhood deficiency. Further, two individuals presented histological evidence of deficiency associated with pubertal growth. Isotopic values in the incisors of all three individuals were in keeping with geographic origins in Central and Eastern Europe; however, the two with evidence for pubertal deficiency had higher δ18O values (by 1.3‰) in their third molars, whereas the individual with no evidence of pubertal rickets did not. The overall lack of Vitamin D deficiency at Aventicum is rare when compared with other urban Roman sites. For the three individuals with evidence of deficiency, one suggestion is that they may have moved from elsewhere. The mobility of the two individuals with pubertal rickets suggests that risks for repeat deficiency were affected by their location. As this is the first study to consider osteological and histological evidence for Vitamin D deficiency in conjunction with isotopic evidence of mobility, further studies of mobility and health across the Empire are required.

Toward a bioarchaeology of urbanization: Demography, health, and behavior in cities in the past

“…For example, Toyne et al (2014) analyzed the isotopes of Moche elites (c. 100–850 CE), finding evidence of patrilocal residence patterns. Peacock et al (2019) integrate evidence of vitamin D deficiency with oxygen isotopic data for an urban Roman site in Switzerland (first–third centuries CE), finding residential mobility affects risks of vitamin D deficiency. Chenery et al (2010) combine isotopic data on diet and residential mobility to assess variability within the population of Roman Gloucester (c. second century CE).…”