Several Early Monks Were Hearing Impaired
From: R&D Magazine - 11/23/2016

Ancient monks' vow of silence made the calling particularly attractive to
hearing impaired men.

According to an article in Science News, a team led by bioarchaeologist
Margaret Judd, of the University of Pittsburgh, presented findings during the
Nov. 19 annual meeting of the American Schools of Oriental Research that
shows a substantial minority of Byzantine-era monks displayed skeletal signs
of hearing impairments.

In approximately 16 percent of the skeletons examined - here was displayed
damage to middle ear bones caused by inflammation called otitis media - which
frequently occurs in childhood that can lead to lasting hearing problems in
adulthood.

According to the article, monks showing signs of the disease likely suffered
from mild to moderate hearing loss.

Monks were able to withstand hearing loss because they communicated with hand
signals, nods and other gestures.

Read the entire article at:
http://www.rdmag.com/article/2016/11/several-early-monks-were-hearing-impaired

Link:
Margaret Judd
http://www.anthropology.pitt.edu/node/225