Abnormalities in the development of the embryologic aortic arches with resultant anomalies of the aortic arch and its branches are not uncommon. Absence of a common carotid artery in which there are separate origins of the internal and external carotid arteries is rare. We describe bilateral absence of the common carotid arteries resulting in separate origins of both internal carotid arteries and both external carotid artenies. Although this branching pattern has been shown to be a developmental possibility [1], only one other neported case could be found