The Skull Dome
Eight bones stitched with sutures
Your skull looks like one solid helmet, but it's actually EIGHT flat bones knitted together with zigzag stitches. Those stitches have a name: sutures — the same word as in sewing!
The skull from the side, sutures visible
Real anatomy picture coming soon
Real anatomy photo spot: cranial bones meeting in zigzag sutures
The helmet pieces
Eight cranial bones form the dome: the frontal bone at your forehead, two parietal bones at the top and sides, two temporal bones above your ears, the occipital bone at the back, and two hidden bones deep inside — the sphenoid and the ethmoid. Together they enclose your brain in a snug, shock-proof shell.
Baby soft spots
A baby's skull bones aren't knitted yet — gaps called fontanelles (French for 'little fountains') stay open between them. This lets the baby's head squeeze slightly during birth and lets the brain grow fast. The bones slowly knit together, and by about age two the soft spots are gone.
Mr. Bones says: I'm a fictional skeleton, not a doctor! This is for learning and fun. If anything hurts, stop and tell a grown-up you trust.
