The calvaria (or calva, skullcap) is the upper part of the cranium and surrounds the cranial cavity containing the brain. It is formed by the following bones:

• frontal bone
• parietal bones (two)
• temporal bones (two)
• occipital bone

Does not include the Ethmoid or the Sphenoid bone since these are within the skull instead of the top of the skull.

Gray's Anatomy's list includes the Ethmoid and Sphenoid bone in the Calvaria. Some books state that calvaria consists of just the frontal bone, parietal bone, temporal bone, and occipital bone .

In a fetus, the formation of the Calvaria involves a process known as intramembranous ossification, although the base of the skull (underlying the brain) develops through endochondral ossification.

[edit] Inner surface of the skull-cap

The inner surface of the skull-cap is concave and presents depressions for the convolutions of the cerebrum, together with numerous furrows for the lodgement of branches of the meningeal vessels.

Along the middle line is a longitudinal groove, narrow in front, where it commences at the frontal crest, but broader behind; it lodges the superior sagittal sinus, and its margins afford attachment to the falx cerebri.

On either side of it are several depressions for the arachnoid granulations, and at its back part, the openings of the parietal foramina when these are present.

It is crossed, in front, by the coronal suture, and behind by the lambdoidal, while the sagittal lies in the medial plane between the parietal bones.