Research results

Deadly seafaring disease also raged in Carinthia

Bioarchaeologist Magdalena Srienc-Ściesiek took a closer look at the skeletons.(Bild: KLAUS PICHLER)

Centuries ago, scurvy was a dreaded disease among seafarers. But the "plague of the seas" did not only rage on the high seas. Researchers from the Academy of Sciences were also able to detect the disease in the Jauntal valley. 

There are several hundred kilometers between the sea and the Carinthian Jauntal. And so it is hard to imagine that scurvy, which was caused by vitamin C deficiency on the high seas, was also rampant between Gallicia and Neuhaus. "Our study shows that scurvy was particularly common in this alpine region around the time of birth, among infants and young children," explains bioarchaeologist Magdalena Srienc-Ściesiek, who, together with her colleagues, examined 86 skeletons from three early medieval settlements in the Jauntal valley.