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Site: Jarrow monastic site, Tyne and Wear.
Period: Late Saxon to post-medieval.
Excavator: Prof. R.J. Cramp, Durham University.
Published: forthcoming.
Skeleton: child, 4 years.
Catalogue entry: The left femur has extensive lateral bowing in its distal two-thirds with wide splaying of its distal end. The right femur is deformed in the same way, but less so. The left tibia and fibula are also much deformed, being bowed laterally from just below the head. The right tibia and fibula are somewhat less affected although also deformed. It is likely that this child was an early sufferer of rickets.
Rickets is the result of vitamin D deficiency and is more common in post-medieval and early modern urban industrial populations. The avitaminosis may be attributable to malnutrition, but is also linked with lack of exposure to sunlight. Disease may be a contributory factor, and in this case there were other pathological changes which may indicate an infection or inflammation of the bone.