Archaeologists are baffled by the dark death of this Neolithic woman

A newly discovered skeleton from the Scottish island of Tiree may predate the earliest known case of rickets in Britain by 3,000 years — but that's not even the most interesting thing about it.

Rickets, a disease caused by Vitamin D deficiency, is commonly linked to a lack of sunlight, and the disease has typically been associated with Victorian Britain's urban slums. But this rickets-infected skeleton is from a woman who lived in a farming community in the Neolithic era.

"Vitamin D deficiency shouldn't be a problem for anyone exposed to a rural, outdoor lifestyle," Ian Armit, a professor at the University of Bradford, says, "so there must have been particular circumstances that restricted this woman's access to sunlight as a child. It's most likely she either wore a costume that covered her body or constantly remained indoors, but whether this was because she held a religious role, suffered from illness, or was a domestic slave, we will probably never know."

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An analysis of the woman's teeth showed that she suffered from "physiological stress, possibly malnutrition or ill health, between the ages of 4 and 14 years old," a press release by the University of Bradford notes. The woman was buried without the usual rites of the Neolithic times.

Janet Montgomery, a researcher from Durham University, acknowledged that there are still many questions left unanswered. "We can only speculate as to why a disease linked to urban deprivation emerged so early in a farming community," she said.