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Possible Prenatal and Perinatal Scurvy at Telekfalva, Romania
... The effects of infantile scurvy typically begin to manifest between 5 and 13 months of age (Jaffe, 1972;Khurana and Fitzpatrick, 2009). Though rare, so-called congenital or neonatal scurvy does occur, with cases reported for individuals aged: 5 days (Hirsch et al., 1976), 13 days (Bhat and Srinivasan, 1989), 20 days (Jackson and Park, 1935), 1 month (Follis et al., 1950), 5 weeks (Gómez Dammeier et al., 1999), and 8 weeks (Burns, 1963;Jaffe, 1972;Osterholtz et al., 2014;Riepe et al., 2001). Scurvy leads to various osseous indicators such as porosity and periosteal new bone ( Table 2), some of which have been recognized in bioarchaeological contexts in Egypt (e.g., Jardine, 2011;Nerlich et al., 2000Nerlich et al., , 2002Nerlich and Zink, 2003;Wheeler et al., 2012). ...
To date there has been a lack of palaeopathological evidence for the presence of scurvy in ancient Egypt. In this paper we describe one of, if not the first, differentially diagnosed bioarchaeological cases of subadult scurvy in the region in the skeleton of a 1-year +/− 4-month old infant recovered from the Predynastic site of Nag el-Qarmila (c. 3800–3600 BCE) in Aswan, Egypt. Bony change was observed on the left maxilla and greater wing of the sphenoid bone, left and right mandibular rami, orbits, and zygomatic bones, as well as on the humeri, radii, and femora, all of which appear to be suggestive of scurvy. While the cause of this infant's probable scorbutic state is unknown, various circumstances such as diet and cultural behaviors may have contributed to the condition. Given the current lack of evidence of scurvy from ancient Egyptian contexts, this case study informs on the antiquity of ascorbic acid deficiency in the Old World.
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