Nutritional deficiency contributing to physical impairment of an individual in the Metal Period Philippines (~2000-1800BP)

Chloe  Boucher; Dominique  Hussin; Justyna J. Miszkiewicz; Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia; Alexandra S. De Leon; Antonio L. Peñalosa; Pablo S. Pagulayan; Adan V.  Soranio; Marc Oxenham; Melandri Vlok

doi:10.1002/oa.70063

Nutritional deficiency contributing to physical impairment of an individual in the Metal Period Philippines (~2000-1800BP)

Chloe Boucher^* (Corresponding Author)
, Dominique Hussin
, Justyna J. Miszkiewicz
, Mary Jane Louise A. Bolunia
, Alexandra S. De Leon
, Antonio L. Peñalosa
, Pablo S. Pagulayan
, Adan V. Soranio
, Marc Oxenham^* (Corresponding Author)
, Melandri Vlok^* (Corresponding Author)

^*Corresponding author for this work

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Abstract

Scurvy is being increasingly identified in deep antiquity in the tropics of the Asia-Pacific region. We report a case of scurvy in a young adult male from Metal Period (~2000-1800BP) northern Philippines who lived with previously identified at least partial immobility due to left hip ankylosis that likely formed in adulthood. Our follow up paleopathological examination of the complete skeleton identified symmetrical and discrete new bone and/or cortical porosity on the cranium and mandible highly consistent with scurvy. Given vitamin C deficiency disrupts collagen synthesis and thus normal remodeling, our scurvy findings could relate to bone remodeling issues in this individual previously evidenced from histology and 2chemical analyses and linked to the hip ankylosis. The lack of postcranial lesions may be related to this individual’s pseudoparalysis, exacerbating relative immobility as an adult., We emphasize the importance of considering nutritional deficiencies alongside skeletal evidence for physical impairment to ensure a holistic bioarchaeology of care model.

Original language	English
Journal	International journal of osteoarchaeology
Early online date	25 Jan 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.70063
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 25 Jan 2026

Bibliographical note

This paper is dedicated to Professor Victor “Sir Vic” Paz from the University of the Philippines, Diliman (13 March 1967- 7 September 2024). His legacy lives on in many archaeologists from Australia and the Philippines who continue his work. We honor our co-authors Mr. Antonio Peñalosa and Mr. Adan Soriano who have also moved on to the next life during the process of this research.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Funding

This study is a result of a long-term collaboration between the National Museum of thePhilippines (NMP) and the Australian National University (ANU). Funding for this study was received from the Australian Research Council (DE190100068; FT240100030).

Funders	Funder number
Australian Research Council	DE190100068, FT240100030

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Boucher_etal_IJPOA_Nutritional_Deficiency_Contributing_AAM
This manuscript has been made open access under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence under the terms of the University of Aberdeen Research Publications Policy. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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Cite this

Boucher, C., Hussin, D., Miszkiewicz, J. J., Bolunia, M. J. L. A., De Leon, A. S., Peñalosa, A. L., Pagulayan, P. S., Soranio, A. V., Oxenham, M., & Vlok, M. (2026). Nutritional deficiency contributing to physical impairment of an individual in the Metal Period Philippines (~2000-1800BP). International journal of osteoarchaeology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.70063

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title = "Nutritional deficiency contributing to physical impairment of an individual in the Metal Period Philippines (\textasciitilde{}2000-1800BP)",

abstract = "Scurvy is being increasingly identified in deep antiquity in the tropics of the Asia-Pacific region. We report a case of scurvy in a young adult male from Metal Period (\textasciitilde{}2000-1800BP) northern Philippines who lived with previously identified at least partial immobility due to left hip ankylosis that likely formed in adulthood. Our follow up paleopathological examination of the complete skeleton identified symmetrical and discrete new bone and/or cortical porosity on the cranium and mandible highly consistent with scurvy. Given vitamin C deficiency disrupts collagen synthesis and thus normal remodeling, our scurvy findings could relate to bone remodeling issues in this individual previously evidenced from histology and 2chemical analyses and linked to the hip ankylosis. The lack of postcranial lesions may be related to this individual{\textquoteright}s pseudoparalysis, exacerbating relative immobility as an adult., We emphasize the importance of considering nutritional deficiencies alongside skeletal evidence for physical impairment to ensure a holistic bioarchaeology of care model.",

author = "Chloe Boucher and Dominique Hussin and Miszkiewicz, \{Justyna J.\} and Bolunia, \{Mary Jane Louise A.\} and \{De Leon\}, \{Alexandra S.\} and Pe{\~n}alosa, \{Antonio L.\} and Pagulayan, \{Pablo S.\} and Soranio, \{Adan V.\} and Marc Oxenham and Melandri Vlok",

note = "This paper is dedicated to Professor Victor “Sir Vic” Paz from the University of the Philippines, Diliman (13 March 1967- 7 September 2024). His legacy lives on in many archaeologists from Australia and the Philippines who continue his work. We honor our co-authors Mr. Antonio Pe{\~n}alosa and Mr. Adan Soriano who have also moved on to the next life during the process of this research.",

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AU - Boucher, Chloe

AU - Hussin, Dominique

AU - Miszkiewicz, Justyna J.

AU - Bolunia, Mary Jane Louise A.

AU - De Leon, Alexandra S.

AU - Peñalosa, Antonio L.

AU - Pagulayan, Pablo S.

AU - Soranio, Adan V.

AU - Oxenham, Marc

AU - Vlok, Melandri

N1 - This paper is dedicated to Professor Victor “Sir Vic” Paz from the University of the Philippines, Diliman (13 March 1967- 7 September 2024). His legacy lives on in many archaeologists from Australia and the Philippines who continue his work. We honor our co-authors Mr. Antonio Peñalosa and Mr. Adan Soriano who have also moved on to the next life during the process of this research.

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N2 - Scurvy is being increasingly identified in deep antiquity in the tropics of the Asia-Pacific region. We report a case of scurvy in a young adult male from Metal Period (~2000-1800BP) northern Philippines who lived with previously identified at least partial immobility due to left hip ankylosis that likely formed in adulthood. Our follow up paleopathological examination of the complete skeleton identified symmetrical and discrete new bone and/or cortical porosity on the cranium and mandible highly consistent with scurvy. Given vitamin C deficiency disrupts collagen synthesis and thus normal remodeling, our scurvy findings could relate to bone remodeling issues in this individual previously evidenced from histology and 2chemical analyses and linked to the hip ankylosis. The lack of postcranial lesions may be related to this individual’s pseudoparalysis, exacerbating relative immobility as an adult., We emphasize the importance of considering nutritional deficiencies alongside skeletal evidence for physical impairment to ensure a holistic bioarchaeology of care model.

AB - Scurvy is being increasingly identified in deep antiquity in the tropics of the Asia-Pacific region. We report a case of scurvy in a young adult male from Metal Period (~2000-1800BP) northern Philippines who lived with previously identified at least partial immobility due to left hip ankylosis that likely formed in adulthood. Our follow up paleopathological examination of the complete skeleton identified symmetrical and discrete new bone and/or cortical porosity on the cranium and mandible highly consistent with scurvy. Given vitamin C deficiency disrupts collagen synthesis and thus normal remodeling, our scurvy findings could relate to bone remodeling issues in this individual previously evidenced from histology and 2chemical analyses and linked to the hip ankylosis. The lack of postcranial lesions may be related to this individual’s pseudoparalysis, exacerbating relative immobility as an adult., We emphasize the importance of considering nutritional deficiencies alongside skeletal evidence for physical impairment to ensure a holistic bioarchaeology of care model.

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DO - 10.1002/oa.70063

M3 - Article

SN - 1047-482X

JO - International journal of osteoarchaeology

JF - International journal of osteoarchaeology

ER -

Nutritional deficiency contributing to physical impairment of an individual in the Metal Period Philippines (~2000-1800BP)

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Data Availability Statement

Funding

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