Mastoid process: Learn about the mastoid

Learn about the mastoid process , a bone projection behind the ear that attaches muscles and air cells. Find out how mastoiditis and cholesteatoma can affect the mastoid process and its functions. Mastoid Process Location The mastoid process is located behind the external auditory meatus, lying lateral to the styloid process , at the vertebral level of C1. Mastoid Process Anatomy The mastoid process is a pair of conical bones projecting downwards, arising from the posterior ends of the parietal bones of the skull. The mastoid process is a bony prominence located behind the ear. It is a key component of the temporal bone, which forms the side of the skull. It has a number of important functions and is clinically significant in a number of ways. mastoid process , the smooth pyramidal or cone-shaped bone projection at the base of the skull on each side of the head just below and behind the ear in humans. The mastoid process is important to students of fossil humans because it occurs regularly and in the specific form described only in hominids (i.e., members of the genera Homo and Australopithecus). The development of the mastoid process is apparently related to the upright posture of hominids and the consequent evolutionary ...