Skull - Human Skull

Human Skull

For details and the constituent bones, see human skull, neurocranium and viscerocranium.

In humans, as in other mammals, the aforementioned division of the skull into the cranium and mandible is not usually followed. Instead, for the purposes of describing their anatomy and enumerating their bones, mammalian and human skulls are divided differently: They are deemed to consist of two categorical parts, the neurocranium and the viscerocranium. The neurocranium (or braincase) is a protective vault surrounding the brain. The viscerocranium (also splanchnocranium or facial skeleton) is formed by the bones supporting the face. Both parts have different embryological origins.

Except for the mandible, all of the bones of the skull are joined together by sutures, rigid articulations permitting very little movement.

The Human Skull The skull is supported on the summit of the vertebral column, and is of an oval shape, wider behind han in front. It is composed of a series of flattened or irregular bones which, with one exception (the mandible), are immovably jointed together. It is divisible into two parts: (1) the cranium, which lodges and protects the brain, consists of eight bones, and (2) the skeleton of the face, of fourteen, as follows: Skull, 22 bones Cranium, 8 bones i. Occipital. ii. Two Parietals. iii. Frontal. iv. Two Temporals. v. Sphenoidal. vi. Ethmoidal.

Face, 14 bones i. Two Nasals. ii. Two Maxillæ. iii. Two Lacrimals. iv. Two Zygomatics. v. Two Palatines. vi. Two Inferior Nasal Conchæ. vii. Vomer. viii.Mandible.

In the Basle nomenclature, certain bones developed in association with the nasal capsule, viz., the inferior nasal conchæ, the lacrimals, the nasals, and the vomer, are grouped as cranial and not as facial bones. The hyoid bone, situated at the root of the tongue and attached to the base of the skull by ligaments, is described in this section