PITTED EAR LOBES OF CONGENITAL ORIGIN 
ALBERT ERNEST JENKS 
Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota 
Pits found at birth in the lobes of the ears. 
young woman in my class in 
Physical Anthropology recently 
reported an unusual mark on 
the lobes of both her ears which 
she and her family believe is inherited. 
The accompanying pictures show a 
well-marked pit in the lobe of her right 
ear and a less distinct pit in the lobe of 
the left ear.1 These photographs are 
reproduced without retouching. The 
pits are in substantially the same place 
they would have been, had the ears 
been pierced for rings. 
The history of the case is as follows, 
(Fig. 7.) 
as is believed and told by the young 
woman’s mother: 
The mother lives in Minneapolis. 
She was born in Karlstad, province of 
Varmland, Sweden. Her ears were 
pierced when she was about 2 years old, 
and she wears ear rings. It was the 
custom for men in Karlstad to wear ear 
rings at the time this mother’s father 
was young. In consequence, the ma- 
ternal grandfather of the young woman 
had had his ears pierced, and wore ear 
rings throughout his life. He died in 
Sweden. It is the belief of the young 
1 Photos are by Dr. E. K. Strachan of the School of Chemistry, University of Minnesota. 
553 
