The bones of the skull that cover the brain are called calvarium. Bones are connected by suture joint. The stitches are called stitched stitches. There are 6 spaces or Fontanels in the skull. Due to the presence of fontanel, the shape of the baby’s head changes during delivery and it comes out easily through the birth canal. By the age of two, the baby’s carotid bones are completely fused by the suchar joints. Carotid artery is made up of 8 hard and flat bones. The bones are:
(i) Frontal Bone: The frontal is a cranial bone shaped like an oyster. It has two eye sockets and a nose. It has two pairs of mounds. One pair on the forehead and the other pair on the eyebrows.
(ii) Parietal bones: There are 2 parietal bones like quadrangular plates. It has a raised section on the outer floor.
(iii) Occipital bone: The occipital bone surrounds the navel. It has a hole called Foramen magnum. The occipital bone consists of a shell part, 2 lateral parts and an occipital part. It connects the carotid with the atlas. (iv) Temporal bones: Two temporal bones exist on either side of the carotid. Each bone consists of four segments. squama, petromastoid, tympanic and styloid processes. In this bone the hearing organ, auditory canal, carotid canal and facial nerve canal are located.
(v) Ethmoid bone: Ethmoid is a spongy bone. It forms the eye socket and nasal septum. It consists of 6 plates. 1 transverse plate, 1 vertical plate, 2 orbital plates and 2 labyrinth plates. Each labyrinth plate contains tiny air chambers.
(vi) Sphenoid bone: Sphenoid is the bone forming the carotid floor. It looks like a bat or a butterfly. It consists of a body stem and 3 pairs of appendages. Its parts are the greater wing, the lesser wing and the pterygoid process.