Ortner D J, Butler W, Cafarella J, Milligan L
Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560, USA.
Am J Phys Anthropol. 2001 Apr;114(4):343-51. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.1046.
The authors surveyed subadult human skeletons from Native American archeological sites in the United States for evidence of skeletal lesions associated with scurvy. Geographic regions surveyed include the Midatlantic area, the Southeast (Florida), the Southwest, and the Plains. The prevalence of probable subadult scurvy ranged from zero in the Plains samples to 38% in a small sample from Florida. These data indicate the likelihood that scurvy was a significant childhood disease in many Native American groups. Reasons for variation in prevalence remain speculative but include regional and seasonal variation in food types and abundance, cultural patterns of storage and utilization, periodic food shortages, and the relative importance of corn in the diet. These factors are part of a nutritional complex that is related to disease prevalence which can be studied through evidence seen in archeological human remains.
作者对来自美国本土美洲考古遗址的亚成人骨骼进行了调查，以寻找与坏血病相关的骨骼病变证据。调查的地理区域包括大西洋中部地区、东南部（佛罗里达州）、西南部和平原地区。可能的亚成人坏血病患病率从平原样本中的零到佛罗里达州一个小样本中的38%不等。这些数据表明，坏血病很可能是许多本土美洲人群体中一种重要的儿童疾病。患病率差异的原因仍属推测，但包括食物类型和丰度的区域和季节变化、储存和利用的文化模式、周期性食物短缺以及玉米在饮食中的相对重要性。这些因素是营养复合体的一部分，该复合体与疾病患病率相关，可通过考古人类遗骸中的证据进行研究。
