Residual rickets or osteomalacia: a case dating from the 16–18 th centuries from Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland

A skeleton from a 16–18 th century burial site in Krosno Odrzańskie, Poland, was examined using classical morphological, metric and macroscopic palaeopathological observations, as well as radiography and tomography of the skull and long bones. A wide variety of the observed bone deformations probably occurred as a consequence of past rickets and/or osteomalacia, whose primary cause may also have been chronic renal failure. Preservation of the bones enables a discussion of the cause of such pathological changes. The subject under study appears to be a very interesting example of an individual whose skeleton shows advanced pathological alterations associated with the subject's vitamin D deficiency, overall health conditions and relatively long lifespan. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.