The cranium, or brain-containing section of the skull, has eight bones. Unpaired ethmoid, sphenoid, frontal, and occipital; paired parietal and temporal. The facial section of the skull correlates to the human face. The skull's face region has 14 bones. The inferior nasal conchae, unpaired mandible and vomer, and paired maxillae are examples.

The miscellaneous bones are six in total and include a sequence of three little bones—the malleus, incus, and stapes—that are located inside each temporal bone of the skull and are involved in the hearing mechanism. According to certain anatomists, one more bone is included in the miscellaneous group, giving the skull a total of 29 bones. The hyoid bone is included in the 29 because it is more directly associated to the tongue than the larynx. However, since the hyoid does not articulate directly with any other skull bone, it is not considered a member of the skull in this section.

The skull's gross anatomy reveals a variety of anatomical components and landmarks. The eye's orbits are prominent cavities that house the eyes. Using the example of a three-dimensional jigsaw puzzle, one can see that the orbits are not made up of a single bone but rather are made up of fragments of multiple bones, including the ethmoid, frontal, lacrimal, maxillary, palatine, sphenoid, and zygomatic. Similarly, the nasal cavity is divided vertically by a bone wall.

This partition is referred to as the bony nasal septum, and it is likewise formed of two bones: the ethmoid (more precisely, the perpendicular plate) and the vomer. The nasal conchae or turbinates are three bone scrolls that run along the lateral borders of each chamber of the nasal cavity. The two higher conchae (superior and medial) originate from the ethmoid, but the inferior nasal concha is an independent bone. The three nasal conchae combine to create a tiny chamber known as a meatus. Returning to the outside of the skull, numerous markers are visible: the frons (forehead), occiput (skull's posteriormost point), and vertex (superior tip of the skull).

There are depressions called temporae along the sides of the skull, where the face section finishes and the cranium starts. When the soft tissue components of the skull cover the skull, they correspond to the temples. A large bone loop termed the zygomatic arch (highlights) is located just lateral to and below each orbit. The zygomatic arch is not a single bone but is comprised of three bones: the maxilla, the temporal, and the zygomatic.

If one were to cut around the perimeter of the cranium and remove the top of the skull, one would be holding the calvaria or skullcap. After removing the brain from the skull, three main voids in the cranium's floor would be seen. The anterior (frontal, ethmoid, sphenoid), medial (sphenoid, temporal), and posterior (temporal, occipital) cranial fossae are the anterior (frontal, ethmoid, sphenoid), and posterior (temporal, occipital) cranial fossae.

A tiny aperture is located on either side of the skull, directly posterior to the point at where the mandible articulates with the skull. The bony external auditory meatus is this aperture. A rounded protuberance termed the mastoid process is located immediately behind and protruding below each external auditory meatus. On the inferior surface of the skull, medial to each external auditory meatus, is a pointed protrusion of bone called the styloid process. A big hole exists at the base of the skull, between and behind the styloid processes. This opening is referred to as the foramen magnum.

Finally, multiple jagged lines cross the cranial region of the skull. Sutures are those jagged lines. Coronal, sagittal, lambdoidal, and occipitomastoid sutures are prevalent. The sutures are called from the planes in which they run. The lambdoidal suture is called after the Greek letter lambda. The occipitomastoid suture links anatomical structures (i.e., the occipital bone and mastoid processes of the temporal bones).