Human Anatomy - Zinoviy Mirchuk, Maryna Mirchuk 2007

Axial skeleton
Skeleton of the head

The Skull is the Skeletal Structure of the HEAD. It is divided into two sections: the neurocranium (braincase) and the viscerocranium (facial Skeleton). The neurocranium encloses the Brain and houses the Organs of Vision, Hearing, and balance. The facial skeleton forms the bony framework of the respiratory and digestive tracts. The boundary between them runs along the supraorbital margin, the Zygomatic bone, and the arch down to the external acoustic meatus. Both sections of the skull consist of individual bones connected immovably or by sutures, with the exception of the Mandible, which forms a paired temporomandibular joint. The bony framework of the neurocranium is formed by the paired parietal and temporal bones, and the unpaired occipital, frontal, sphenoid, and ethmoid bones. The facial skeleton consists of the upper and lower jaws, paired palatine, zygomatic, lacrimal, and nasal bones, inferior nasal conchae, and unpaired Vomer and hyoid bones.