Human Body Skull One of the most important and complex parts of the human skeleton is the skull The skull is very important as it provides armored protection to one of the most vital human organs the brain However only the upper dome-shaped part of the skull protects the brain The lower part creates a background structure which gives each human their facial features Facial features are not biologically important but they do play an important role within our social environment Similar features such as two eyes one nose and one mouth placed in roughly the same area on a face help humans to identify each other as the same species 4 3 1 2 5 1 Frontal bone known as our forehead 2 Nasal cavity has no bones and contains the nose 3 Eye sockets where the eyes swivel around to see 4 Brain box or cranium contains eight bones 5 Teeth fixed within the jawbone and set in both upper and lower jaws
Skull BRINGING THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE The lower part of the skull plays such an important part in the basis of facial features that modern technology allows scientists to work out what a person’s face would have looked like just by analyzing the skull and facial bones This process is called facial reconstruction and is applied in many fields including forensic science and archaeology DID YOU KNOW There are more than 20 different bones that make up the skull The brain box contains eight separate bones and there are 13 bones forming the front of the skull There are two separate parts to the upper jawbone and one part to the lower jaw The lower jaw works just like the hinges on a door allowing it to move up and down as we open our mouth The lower jaw is the only skull bone that can move
Human Body TOMBSTONES In many New England graveyards the skull can still be seen on many tombstones as shown Sometimes it is used with a pair of angel wings as in this picture symbolizing flying away from mortality Here lies buried the body of The skull has appeared in many films and plays perhaps most famously for the part it played in Hamlet by William Shakespeare The skull belongs to Yorick a court jester whose skull is dug up by a gravedigger When Hamlet sees the skull he makes a famous speech about the effects of death Alas poor Yorick I knew him Horatio a fellow of infinite jest of most excellent fancy he hath borne me on his back a thousand times and now how abhorred in my imagination it is My gorge rises at it Here hung those lips that I have kissed I know not how oft Where be your gibes now Your gambols Your songs Your flashes of merriment that were wont to set the table on a roar Ahoy me hearties Another famous use of the human skull was when it appeared colored white with two crossed bones on a black background This image known as the Jolly Roger was used on ships flags in the 18th century to signal that they were a pirate ship Pirates were sailors that conducted criminal robbery or violence at sea against other ships The Jolly Roger was often a way for pirates to signal their intentions and to scare other ships One record of the Jolly Roger skull flag being used by a pirate ship was in 1822 in the USA The Massachusetts brigantine called the Belvedere reported that it had fended off an attack by a schooner boat while sailing in the Florida Straits
EWW Most modern doctors no longer practice trepanning as a cure for cranial diseases Trepanning is the act of drilling or scraping a hole into the human head through the skull Evidence has been found that this procedure has been carried out since the Stone Age and has continued as a form of treatment ever since making trepanning the oldest surgical procedure supported by archaeological evidence Believe it or not trepanning is still carried out today for certain brain injuries but rather than using old knives like they did in the Stone Age they now have diamond-coated drills to make the process quicker and provide a cleaner cut Useful Pirate speak Sea dog old pirate or sailor Y'argh an expression of disgust Ahoy Hello Aye yes Cat o’nine tails a whip with nine strands Dead men tell no tales phrase indicating no survivors left behind Landlubber big slow clumsy person who doesn’t know how to sail Pieces of eight silver coins found in pirate stashes Shiver me timbers an expression of surprise Skull
