What Are Cranial Bases

The cranial base is the most inferior part of the skull. It consists of the floor of the cranial cavity plus the inferior aspect of the viscerocranium, minus the mandible. Together with the cranial vault, which is the part of the skull that protects the brain, it contributes to the neurocranium.

What type of bones make up the cranium?

The neurocranium forms the cranial cavity that surrounds and protects the brain and brainstem. The neurocranium consists of the occipital bone, two temporal bones, two parietal bones, the sphenoid, ethmoid, and frontal bones—all are joined together with sutures.

Which bone connects most of the bones of the cranial floor?

There are four major sutures that connect the bones of the cranium together: the frontal or coronal, the sagittal, the lambdoid, and the squamous. The frontal suture connects the frontal bone to the two parietal bones. The sagittal suture connects the two parietal bones.