Exostoses of the external auditory canal

The direct motive for this study was the find of exostoses of the external auditory canal on three skulls from ancient period (2nd-3rd century) which were excavated on site No. 80 in 1996 in Sremska Mitrovica (Sirmium). Among 37 buried individuals, only nine of them had temporal bones preserved. According to archaeological documentation they were probably part of the urban poor, slaves or freedmen manual laborers. In any case they belonged to the lowest social status of ancient Sirmium, which was confirmed by anthropological analysis. Auditory exostoses are bone masses located in the external auditory canal. Most researches agree that the environment (especially water temperature, but also water salinity, atmospheric temperature and wind action) plays a significant role in the development of this trait