For the surgical technique, see suture.

Cranial sutures are the immobile joints between the bones of the skull (or "cranium").

It is normal for many of the bones of the skull to remain unfused at birth. The term "fontanelle" 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 provide useful information in forensics and archaeology.

List of sutures

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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
• Lambdoid 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

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

Primarily visible from below (norma basalis) or inside

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

External links

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• MedlinePlus
• Age at Death Estimation from Cranial Suture Closures

Skull

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