Austria: For centuries, the world of a cellar of one of Austria’s oldest summer wealthy families has been revealed, where a sad secret was hidden. A mummy of a baby was locked in the basement during the excavation here. The child of the Starhamburg clan was claimed by archaeologists to be 1 or 2 years old, and further investigation revealed that the child died not from lack of food or a fatal injury, but from lack of sunlight.
The child’s body was wrapped in a silk cloth
Evidence is mounting that this child’s mummy dates back to between the 16th and 17th centuries. Small details of the child’s body can be clearly seen in this mummy. The child’s body was wrapped in a silk cloth. But despite being from a large and influential family, the child was not healthy. A virtual autopsy of the mummy was performed with the help of a CT scan, which also revealed deformities and defects in the child’s ribs. All these symptoms were due to malnutrition. Which is especially due to the lack of vitamin D. It is called rickets.
The researchers also considered another possibility
The researchers also considered another possibility that, according to them, the death could have been caused by vitamin C deficiency, which causes scurvy. While the deformity observed in the ribs does not match both conditions. Examination of the fat tissue revealed that the child was overweight for his age compared to the rest of the children. Therefore, researchers believe that the child should be well fed at that time. This eliminates the possibility of vitamin C deficiency.
Vitamin D does not reach our body through food
On the other hand, if we talk about vitamin D, it does not reach our body through food, but is formed through chemical reactions in the skin due to ultraviolet radiation. This suggests that the child was malnourished, not from lack of food, but from lack of sunlight, and is said to have subsequently died.
The upper classes often avoided the sun to keep their skin clear
Vitamin D is essential for bone formation and strength in childhood. It helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus better throughout life. Although not all rickets are fatal, the child’s lungs show signs of life-threatening pneumonia, which is common in children with vitamin D deficiency. According to research published in Frontiers, upper class people during this time often avoided the sun to keep their skin clear. In European society, people of that era lived like this, when only farmers and laborers walked in the sun.