Climate change may have contributed to childhood vitamin D deficiency during England’s Industrial Revolution, according to new research from our Department of Archaeology.
Dr Ellen Kendall and her research team studied centuries-old teeth and historical burial records from a Quaker cemetery in North East England used between 1711 and 1829.
They found that many people buried there experienced periods of major volcanic activity and reduced solar activity during childhood.
Both could contribute to limited exposure to the sunlight needed for the body to produce vitamin D.
The findings suggest that climate may have been another factor affecting the health of people living in North East England at that time, alongside pollution, poor housing and harsh working conditions.
During the Industrial Revolution, between around 1760 and 1840, England changed rapidly as its economy became increasingly industrialised.
Diseases linked to vitamin D deficiency, including rickets where the growing skeleton fails to properly mineralise, were common among children.
Urbanisation, poverty and living conditions have traditionally been seen as major causes of such diseases.
However, England also experienced a Little Ice Age during the Industrial Revolution; an extended cooling period between the 14th and 19th centuries triggered by heightened volcanic activity.
The researchers wanted to explore whether climate also played a role in the health of people living through this period.
They examined 30 teeth from 21 people buried at the former Coach Lane Quaker cemetery in North Shields.
Teeth grow according to a natural schedule and can preserve signs of disruption during childhood.
Researchers looked for defects in dentine, the hard tissue beneath tooth enamel, which can indicate periods of vitamin D deficiency.
Detailed Quaker burial records provided another important piece of evidence.
The researchers were able to estimate birth years for 109 members of the community.
Of these, 91 were born within ten years of a major volcanic eruption and 41 were born during periods when volcanic activity coincided with unusually low solar activity.
This provided a window into what was happening with the environment while members of the community were growing up.
The research suggests historical health cannot be understood by looking at social or environmental factors in isolation.
Climate conditions could have affected exposure to sunlight, adding to the challenges already experienced by people living through rapid industrialisation.
The study is published in Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology.
Most people buried at Coach Lane lived during periods affected by environmental differences in UV light availability, which may explain the high rates of rickets and defects in tooth dentin, and suggest a major problem with vitamin D deficiency. Realising that burial registers would allow us to reconsider the climatic chronology of this population felt like a new approach to understanding historical childhood vitamin D deficiency.
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