ABSTRACT
The cranial vault is composed at birth of the paired frontal and parietal bones, two temporal squamae, and the unpaired supraoccipital part of the occipital bone, the occipital squama. At this stage the bones are separated by the fibrous tissue of the cerebral capsule and the spaces between them are gradually filled through sutural growth at the bone edges. Each separate cranial vault bone is enclosed in the periosteum, i.e., it lines each bone ectocranially and, via the bounding sutures, is continuous with the endocranial periosteum, specifically designed as dura mater. An adolescent spurt in the growth of the cranial vault has been observed to coincide with the peak velocity of height growth. The sutures are articulations within the craniofacial complex which are composed of five layers: pairs of cambial and capsular layers, and a middle looser zone. Morphogenesis and growth of the dermal bones of the cranial vault is dependent on the brain, whereas the facial bones are not.
