External auditory exostoses, repetitive aquatic activity and increasing social complexity in Chalcolithic Cyprus: Specialists of the sea?

Abstract

External auditory exostoses (EAEs) are dense osseous hyperostoses that protrude into the external auditory canal and are associated with repetitive aquatic activity. Clinically, the aetiology of EAEs is attributed to prolonged exposure to cold water through activities including swimming, surfing, diving, kayaking and sailing. The prevalence and distribution of EAEs within a particular archaeological context informs on human–environment interactions, activity and behavioural differences between the sexes, habitual aquatic activity (e.g., fishing, diving, swimming, bathing, seafaring, littoral zone resource procurement), marine and aquatic resource exploitation and subsistence patterns. This study aims to assess the prevalence of EAEs within a prominent Chalcolithic skeletal assemblage from Souskiou‐Laona, in southwestern Cyprus. Sixty‐five auditory canals were examined macroscopically and microscopically to confirm the presence or absence of EAEs. Five adult individuals present EAEs (right auditory canals; left ear canals not sufficiently preserved) with a prevalence of 15.1% of all sufficiently preserved right ear canals (33). EAE prevalence is 25% in males and 14.2% in females. Earlier burials on the site, represented by bonestack (commingled) crania, display EAEs at 14.8% prevalence, whereas the last burials (articulated skeletons) show a prevalence of 16.7%. Malacological evidence from Souskiou‐Laona cemetery attests marine resource procurement, including activity at the littoral zone. The EAEs at Souskiou‐Laona likely reflect the diachronic exploitation of marine resources at the south coast of Cyprus from the foundation of the cemetery to the latest burials before abandonment of the site. Both males and females participated in these repetitive aquatic activities. The differential expression of EAEs in the population as a whole, and the different prevalences between males and females, may be interpreted in the context of increasing specialisation and social complexity during the Chalcolithic, consistent with the development of other specialised, standardised and gender‐differential activities during this time period.