Hardship in the Western regions: Children vulnerability during bronze-iron ages in the Turpan Basin, northwestern China (1000–100 BCE)

Children skeletons bear a wealth of information about childhood biological and social lives. Hence, collection of these patterns from the children group would suggest the overall environmental and social stress levels of the entire population. In this study, the skeletal remains of 74 children from three cemeteries used during the Bronze-Iron Age in the Turpan Basin of northwestern China (10th to 2nd centuries BCE) were investigated. Signs of abnormal porosity, enamel hypoplasia, abnormal new bone tissue, limb and rib deformities, and other signs of lesions were recorded. All three sites belonged to the Subeixi Culture (1100–100 BCE) in the Western Regions. Results demonstrated that children of the mortuary populations in Yanghai (1000–700 BCE), Jiayi (800–400 BCE) and Shengjindian (250–100 BCE) had generally high apparent prevalence of developmental stresses and signs of pathology. These patterns suggest children vulnerability in the historic Western Regions of a semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural economic mode. The hardship these children faced might have also been related to environmental stress and increased interpersonal conflicts in a transitional zone between nomadic and settled populations that eventually ended the Subeixi Culture. The regional socio-cultural structure and evolution might have had a significant impact on the health, morbidity, resilience, and mortality of children and adults alike. This study is the first effort to survey the health status of ancient minors in China.