Evidence in the bones reveals rickets in Roman times

Research finds vitamin D deficiency was a widespread phenomenon 2,000 years ago

Rickets is mostly seen as a 19th-century disease, but research has revealed that the Romans also had a big problem with getting enough vitamin D.

Researchers from Historic England and McMaster University in Canada examined 2,787 skeletons from 18 cemeteries across the Roman empire and discovered that rickets was a widespread phenomenon 2,000 years ago.