> Tom Bri wrote:
> 
> Ice age Europe, is the one that springs to mind. Evidence of Vitamin D 
> deficiency in leg bones, probably from long winters spent in caves and 
> wrapped up head to toe. I don't know any environment that is not 
> subject to at least occasional food shortages. I imagine ice age 
> Europe had long periods when people were stuck in camp and could not 
> get out to hunt due to the weather.

....

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Paleolithic Eating Support List 
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Tom Bri
> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 7:40 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Bad teeth neanderthals
> 
> 
> http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061204/sc_livescience/ne
> anderthalswerecannibalsstudyconfirms
> 
> A bit about diet and bad teeth from starvation.
> 

Yes, this article you cited confirms what I reported about underdevelopment
of tooth enamel in Neanderthal remains due to malnutrition. Like the article
I cited, it doesn't say that Neanderthals suffered from vitamin D deficiency
in their leg bones, and the tooth enamel problems were attributed to
malnutrition only, with no mention of an additional factor of lack of
sunlight--I still have not found any reports of that beyond the creationist
claims. On the contrary, the Neanderthal remains have all had very thick leg
bones, which in the view of several scientists makes severe vitamin D
deficiency unlikely. 


An excerpt from the article you cited:

<<Teeth from the remains [image] showed evidence of periods of starvation or
minimal nutrition, particularly during difficult life transitions like
weaning or adolescence, according to Rosas.

Teeth grow by adding thin layers of enamel, but when some change in the
natural development of the individual occurs, the enamel is deposited more
slowly, or stops altogether, Rosas explained. Outside forces like climate or
illness could also affect tooth growth, he said.

"So mostly harsh winters, together with physiological difficulties in the
life history of these people may explain what we found," Rosas told
LiveScience.>>

(news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20061204/sc_livescience/neanderthalswerecannib
alsstudyconfirms)


What I wrote on Dec. 12th:

<<There is evidence of underdevelopment (hypoplasia) of tooth enamel
attributed to malnutrition (not lack of sunlight) in Neanderthal remains,
but no specific connection to vitamin D deficiency that I know of. The only
references to vitamin D deficiency in the long bones of Paleolithic peoples
I have seen are the claims by some creationists that Neanderthalers were
actually fully modern humans who happened to have vitamin-D-induced rickets.
These claims were disproved. Could this be what you were thinking of?

Vitamin D deficiency could theoretically have contributed to the enamel
hypoplasia, but then so could have TOO MUCH vitamin D
(http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/43/1/12). I know
of no evidence supporting either hypothesis.>>