Determining vitamin D status in precontact Western Alaska: a new method for exploring past health and dietary adaptations to high-latitude living

这项研究将使用新开发的考古科学方法，以西阿拉斯加努纳莱克(公元1450-1650年)接触前地点保存的永久冻土保存的人类头发为目标，首次经验性地确定考古人口中季节性维生素D的状态。维生素D对骨骼健康发育和心血管健康至关重要，而维生素D缺乏与多种疾病有关。人体维生素D的最重要来源是中波紫外线(UVB)诱导真皮(皮肤)合成维生素D3。然而，在高纬度地区，特别是在冬季，缺乏适当波长的紫外线导致维生素D缺乏症患病率增加，饮食供应或补充剂变得至关重要--这对今天生活在高纬度地区的过去和现在的人们来说是一个重大的环境挑战，包括在阿拉斯加西部和英国。利用新的分析技术，我们的目标是确定保存在努纳莱克接触前地点的考古发束中的维生素D浓度，并将这些新数据与现有的季节性古饮食数据进行比较，以便为现场不同的个人推断维生素D状态与季节性饮食习惯之间的关系。产生的数据将为解释当代维生素D缺乏与传统海洋食品消费之间的关系的现代和近代(20世纪60年代后)数据提供基线，并使我们能够探索这种方法在阐明过去人类与环境的相互作用和对高纬度生活的适应方面的潜力。该项目的成果将有助于更好地了解接触前的生活方式、饮食和阿拉斯加西部的健康状况。这些结果还将有助于确定适用于其他考古遗址和背景的古代饮食科学调查的新途径，并有助于在古代饮食和古环境研究与现代营养健康研究之间建立新的跨学科联系。我们的成果还将直接用于围绕阿拉斯加(AK)昆哈加克社区Nunalleq遗址正在进行的公共宣传活动，包括增加一个在线数字博物馆和为当地学童举办学习活动。这些将增强公众对维生素D健康的了解，但也将加强我们对考古健康研究在加强今天阿拉斯加和其他地方积极健康做法方面的作用的理解。

This research will use newly-developed archaeological science approaches to target permafrost-preserved human hair from the precontact site of Nunalleq, Western Alaska (1450-1650 AD) in order to empirically-determine seasonal vitamin D status in an archaeological population for the first time. Vitamin D is essential for healthy skeletal growth and cardiovascular health, and deficiency is related to multiple diseases. The most important source of vitamin D in humans is ultraviolet B (UVB)-induced dermal (skin) synthesis of vitamin D3. However, at high latitudes, especially in winter, a lack of ultraviolet light of the appropriate wavelength leads to an increase in the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, and dietary supply or supplementation becomes essential - a major environmental challenge for past and present populations living at high-latitudes today, including in Western Alaska and in the UK. Using novel analytical technology, our aim is to determine vitamin D concentrations in archaeological hair strands preserved at the precontact site of Nunalleq and to compare these new data with existing seasonal palaeodietary data, allowing the relationship between vitamin D status and seasonal dietary habits to be inferred for different individuals at the site.Data generated will provide a baseline for the interpretation of modern and recent-historic (post-1960s) data concerning the relationship between contemporary vitamin D deficiency and consumption of traditional marine foods and allow us to explore the potential of this method in illuminating past human-environmental interactions and adaptations to high-latitude living. The outcomes of this project will lead to a better understanding of precontact lifeways, diet and health in Western Alaska. The results will also help define new pathways in the scientific investigation of ancient diet applicable to other archaeological sites and contexts and help forge new cross-disciplinary links between palaeodietary and palaeoenvironmental studies, and modern nutritional health research. Our results will also feed directly into ongoing public outreach initiatives centred around the Nunalleq site in the community of Quinhagak, Alaska (AK), including adding to an online Digital Museum and learning activities for local school children. These will enhance public understanding of vitamin D health, but will also enhance our understanding of the role of archaeo-health studies in reinforcing positive health practices today in Alaska and elsewhere.