Subadult Age at Death and Health Status at Niah Cave, Borneo (1500–200 <scp>bc</scp>)

Schrenk, Alecia

doi:10.1002/oa.2594

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 31 publications

(76 reference statements)

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“…For this reason, research efforts have focused on temperate and sub‐arctic regions of the world, or to the deleterious health effects of industrialization and urbanization contributing to poor sun‐lit housing and smog cover (Ives, 2018; Mays et al, 2018; Snoddy et al, 2016; Tschinkel & Gowland, 2020). However, mineralization disorders including rickets have been observed in humans and animals of tropical and desert zones in both the past (Foldes et al, 1995; Littleton, 1998; Schrenk, 2017; Snoddy et al, 2017), and the present (Bener & Hoffmann, 2010; Groen et al, 1965; Zongping, 2005). Today, rickets is increasingly common in tropical and desert areas where developing countries are concentrated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of dietary calcium in the etiology of childhood rickets in the past and the present

Vlok

Snoddy

Niranjan

et al. 2022

American J Hum Biol

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For more than two centuries, lack of sunlight has been understood to cause vitamin D deficiency and documented as a primary cause of rickets. As such, evidence of rickets in the archeological record has been used as a proxy for vitamin D status in past individuals and populations. In the last decade, a clinical global consensus has emerged wherein it is recognized that dietary calcium deficiency also plays a role in the manifestation of rickets and classic skeletal deformities may not form if dietary calcium is normal even if vitamin D is deficient. This disease is now clinically called "nutritional rickets" to reflect the fact that rickets can take calcium deficiency-predominant or vitamin D deficiency-predominant forms. However, there are currently no paleopathological studies wherein dietary calcium deficiency is critically considered a primary etiology of the disease. We review here the interplay of calcium, vitamin D, and phosphorous in bone homeostasis, examine the role of dietary calcium in human health, and critically explore the clinical literature on calcium deficiency-predominant rickets. Finally, we report a case of rickets from the late Formative Period ($2500-1500 years ago) of the Atacama Desert and argue the disease in this infant is likely an example of calcium deficiencypredominant rickets. We conclude that most archeological cases of rickets are the result of multiple micronutrient deficiencies that compound to manifest in macroscopic skeletal lesions. For clinicians, these factors are important for implementing best treatment practice, and for paleopathologists they are necessary for appropriate interpretation of health in past communities.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of dietary calcium in the etiology of childhood rickets in the past and the present

Vlok

Snoddy

Niranjan

et al. 2022

American J Hum Biol

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Burial practices in the early mid-Holocene of the Wallacean Islands: A sub-adult burial from Gua Makpan, Alor Island, Indonesia

Carro

Stewart

Mahirta

et al. 2021

Quaternary International

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Fragmentary and dispersed

Muir,

Hiep,

Buckley

et al. 2024

Hunter Gatherer Research

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Bioarchaeological analyses of preadults provide a wealth of information about past lifeways and social structures, including aspects of personhood. However, studies of personhood and childhood in archaeological hunter-gatherer (or forager) contexts remain limited, particularly for Southeast Asia. Here, we explore aspects of personhood and the lived experiences of preadults at Con Co Ngua, an early seventh millennium BP sedentary hunter-gatherer community in northern Vietnam. We approach this analysis by way of our knowledge of skeletal representation, grave construction, body positioning, corpse manipulation (including extensive mutilation of certain individuals), and the integration of previous research into lifeways and environment. The results of our analyses provide support for a degree of differential preadult mortuary treatment, primarily manifested through body treatment and positioning. However, interpretations of these treatments are complicated by the highly fragmented and disaggregated nature of the majority of preadult burials. We contend that the comparatively more dispersed and fragmentary nature of the preadult burials at the site is caused by intentional human action at the site, rather than differential preservation or recovery biases, and such apparent biases may actually stem from deliberate human intervention. That is, socially appropriate mortuary treatments regarding constructions of personhood, social memory, or collective identity may have led to the dispersal of preadults throughout the mortuary contexts of the site. More broadly, the mortuary evidence from Con Co Ngua supports the conclusion that all of those buried at Con Co Ngua were bestowed some degree of personhood by their community, as demonstrated through the inclusion of all in the cemetery, from foetuses to elderly adults.

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Subadult Age at Death and Health Status at Niah Cave, Borneo (1500–200 bc)

Cited by 4 publications

References 31 publications

The role of dietary calcium in the etiology of childhood rickets in the past and the present

The role of dietary calcium in the etiology of childhood rickets in the past and the present

Burial practices in the early mid-Holocene of the Wallacean Islands: A sub-adult burial from Gua Makpan, Alor Island, Indonesia

Fragmentary and dispersed

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