Side view of the skull.

For the surgical technique, see suture.

Cranial sutures are the immobile joints between the bones of the skull (or "cranium"). A wound before and after being closed by sutures Sutures are the stitches doctors, and especially surgeons, use to hold skin, internal organs, blood vessels and all other tissues of the human body together, after they have been severed by injury or surgery. ... This article is about a joint in zootomical anatomy. ...

It is normal for many of the bones of the skull to remain unfused at birth. The term "fontanels" is used to describe the resulting "soft spots". The relative positions of the bones continue to change during the life of the adult (though less rapidly), which can can provide useful information in forensics and archaeology. In human anatomy, a fontanelle (or fontanel) is one of two soft spots on a newborn humans skull. ... Forensic science (often shortened to forensics) is the application of a broad spectrum of sciences to answer questions of interest to the legal system. ... Archaeology, archeology, or archæology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ...

List of sutures

Most sutures are named for the bones they articulate, but some have special names of their own.

Primarily visible from the side (norma lateralis)

• Coronal suture - between the frontal and parietal bones
• Lambdoidal suture - between the parietals and the occipital bone
• Occipitomastoid suture
• Parietomastoid suture
• Sphenofrontal suture
• Sphenoparietal suture
• Sphenosquamosal suture
• Sphenozygomatic suture
• Squamosal suture - between the parietal and the temporal bone
• Zygomaticotemporal suture
• Zygomaticofrontal suture

The coronal suture (sutura coronalis) is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint that separates the frontal and parietal bones of the skull. ... A front, in addition to its common dictionary meanings, may specifically refer to: a weather front, a boundary of two airmasses a military front, an area where armies are engaged in conflict a Front (Soviet Army), a major military subdivision of the Soviet Army a front organization or front company... The parietal bones (os parietale) are bones in the human skull and form, by their union, the sides and roof of the cranium. ... The occipital bone [Fig. ... The squamosal suture arches backward from the pterion and connects the temporal squama with the lower border of the parietal: this suture is continuous behind with the short, nearly horizontal parietomastoid suture, which unites the mastoid process of the temporal with the region of the mastoid angle of the parietal. ... The temporal bones (os temporales) are situated at the sides and base of the skull. ...

Primarily visible from front (norma frontalis) or above (norma verticalis)

• Frontal suture / Metopic suture - between the two frontal bones, prior to the fusion of the two into a single bone
• Sagittal suture - along the midline, between parietal bones

The frontal suture (sutura frontalis) is a dense connective tissue structure that divides the two halves of the frontal bone of the skull in infants and children. ... The sagittal suture (sutura sagittalis) is a dense, fibrous connective tissue joint between the two parietal bones of the skull. ... The parietal bones (os parietale) are bones in the human skull and form, by their union, the sides and roof of the cranium. ...

Primarily visible from below (norma basalis) or inside

• Frontoethmoidal suture
• Petrosquamous suture
• Sphenoethmoidal suture
• Sphenopetrosal suture

External links

• MedlinePlus
• Age at Death Estimation from Cranial Suture Closures