the bones are located in the middle ear in your ear.
where are the bones located in your ear?
the middle ear
if untreated, a cholesteatoma can eat into the three small bones located in the middle ear (the malleus, incus and stapes, collectively called ossicles), which can result in nerve deterioration, deafness, imbalance and vertigo. it can also affect and erode, through the enzymes it produces, the thin bone structure that isolates the top of the ear from the brain, as well as lay the covering of the brain open to infection with serious complications (rarely even death due to brain abscess and sepsis).
cholesteatoma
in recent years, there have been several studies conducted on the catacombs of marcellinus and peter analyzing how the conditions within the catacombs effect the preservation of the skeletons. the overall agreed conclusion is that the thermal history within catacombs are highly favorable for bone preservation, even more so than that of skeletons exposed to open-air environments. bones located within larger catacomb chambers have been found to be significantly better preserved than bones located within the catacomb's smaller chambers. the hypothesis that many pathologists are working with is that bones located in close proximity to the catacomb walls are subject to some environmental conditions, specifically runoff and increased humidity; bones discovered near the center of the chambers are not subject to such conditions. this explains why bones located within smaller chambers are not in as good a condition because nearly every skeleton would be located close to the walls of the chamber. bones found in smaller chambers of the catacombs are also affected by diagenesis (the conversion of sediment to sedimentary rock that results in a chemical or physical change) due to the confined space.
catacombs of marcellinus and peter