Abstract
The study of subadult scurvy (vitamin C deficiency), also known as Möller‐Barlow's
disease, is of growing interest in palaeopathology. However, in Italy, there is still a
paucity of knowledge on nutritional stress diseases in human skeletal remains.
In the present work, the anthropological and palaeopathological study on subadults
found in the Early Medieval cemetery of Castel Tirolo, in South Tyrol (Italy) is
reported. Referring to the macroscopic and palaeopathological features described in
the literature, abnormal pores, and abnormal new bone formations were analysed in
multiple cranial and postcranial skeletal regions. Based on our study, 58% individuals
(N = 14/24) displayed abnormal lesions: three subadults were nonspecific pathological
cases; nine showed few indicative, but not diagnostic, lesions; and two cases (TCT13
and TCT14) exhibited abnormal lesions highly consistent with scurvy. As a reliable
diagnosis of vitamin C deficiency is still challenging, we conducted a differential diagnosis
of the recorded lesions that supported the probable presence of scurvy in the
two cases.
This work presents the first documentation of scurvy in Early Medieval Italy revealing
new insights into the health condition and nutritional stress in historical communities
in the Eastern Italian Alps.