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This paper presents the results of a study of bone remains of impuberal individuals from the Early Sarmatian burial mounds located in the Lower Volga region. When working with bone remains, we analyzed frequency of occurrence of various stress indicators and other abnormalities, taking into account biological age of the individuals buried there. The comparison of paleopathology results with the data from archaeological and ethnographic written sources made it possible to assess some aspects of the life of the early Sarmatian population. Thus, the number of children and adolescents in the early Sarmatian burials corresponds to the established paleodemographic standards proving the normal demographic situation in the paleopopulation. Reconstruction of nutrition patterns allows us to assert that breastfeeding in early Sarmatians was long. Meat and dairy products were the basis of the diet of both older children and adults. In the life of the population, there must have been occasional famine periods, for instance, due to livestock loss. The nomads’ diet was limited to meat and milk products, did not provide proper nutrition and caused numerous diseases such as scurvy and porosis. Paleopathology data demonstrate the spread of helminthiases and various infections in the Sarmatians.

Individual descriptions of age and paleo-pathological features observed on bones of children and adolescents of the late Sarmatian time originating from burial mounds from the territory of the Lower Volga region are presented in the paper. The method of paleo-pathological analysis of human bone remains was applied in the study. We determined the age of individual remains according to the methods and schemes presented in the works of Russian and international scientific community. The material of the study is represented by the skeletal remains of 8 people aged 0 to 16 years stored in the anthropological laboratory of the Volgograd State University. As a result of the conducted study of children and adolescent skeletons of the late Sarmatian period, previously established by the scientists information on the rare occurrence of children in the burials of this culture was confirmed. This situation is typical to most archaeological monuments in the Lower Volga and Lower Don regions of the 2nd - 4th century AD which proves the paleo-demographic uniqueness of the late Sarmatian culture. On the basis of the research on the dental pathologies expansion we make an assumption about the susceptibility of the children’s population to episodic stresses of various etiologies. The children population of the late Sarmatian period lacked oral hygiene as evidenced by the early appearance of tartar. The nature of the ration of the immature population of the 2nd - 4th century AD allows to reproduce the complex analysis of stress markers. The lack of caries and a high percentage of tartar indicate that the diet was dominated by meat and dairy products with a low carbohydrate inclusion. Porosis, revealed on bone remains, testifies to the problems with the vitamin “C” assimilation. The presence of cases of hyperostosis in the examined group means that the majority of individuals in childhood suffered from severe chronic diseases. Signs of nonspecific infections found on the bones of the skull and the postcranial skeleton, along with markers of micronutrient deficiencies in the human body testify to the hard living conditions of nomadic children.

Background. Scurvy is very rarely seen in modern conditions. Material and Methods. We observed a case of scurvy that occurred as a result of prolonged malnutrition in a previously healthy 50-year-old man with low income. Results. The disease was manifested by severe weakness, edema of the legs, gingivitis and spontaneous hemorrhagic eruptions on the legs, which were initially regarded as hemorrhagic vasculitis. The confluent character of hemorrhagic eruptions, their predominant localization along the posterior surface of the legs, the presence of perifollicular hemorrhages, pathognomonic for scurvy, gingivitis, complete absence of ascorbic acid consumption for several months, as well as concomitant alimentary dystrophy and multivitamin deficiency, allowed us to suspect scurvy in the patient. The rapid effect of vitamin C treatment has confirmed this diagnosis. Conclusions. The differential diagnosis of spontaneous hemorrhagic eruptions and purpura in patients with prolonged malnutrition should include scurvy, a disease almost forgotten in modern conditions.

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