Rickets and child abuse: The case of a tow-year-old girl from the 4th century in Lisieux (Normandy)

The burial of a child of two years of age from the 4th century site of Lisieux-Michelet (Calvados, France) was examined for bone hyperplasia and a variety of mechanical deformations recognized in association with skeletal trauma. Results of DNA analysis of bone using the PCR methods identified this child as female. Microscopic features of the teeth (interglobular dentine) and a sample taken from the tibia conclusively determined that this child suffered from vitamin D-resistant rickets and possibly X-linked hypophosphataemic rickets as its most common form of occurrence. In addition, evidence for child abuse is suspected based on the presence of cranial and tooth fractures and the appearance of successive plaque-like endocranial (meningeal) appositions. This is the first palaeopathological report of child abuse in antiquity.