Congenital aural atresia in an adult female from Apollonia Pontica, Bulgaria

Abstract

Few cases of congenital malformation of the external auditory meatus have been reported in the paleopathological literature. This paper describes a case of unilateral aural atresia in an adult female skeleton from the Greek colonial site of Apollonia Pontica on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria. The anomaly is described and its impact on this individual's ability to hear is evaluated using modern clinical data. Despite the loss of directional hearing and a visible malformation of the external ear, this individual would likely have led a fairly normal life and would have been capable of performing any number of everyday tasks.