The axial skeleton is all the bones that are along the midline of the skeleton. It is basically every bone that is not considered a limb like the arms and legs. The axial skeleton includes the cranium, mandible, the rib cage, sacrum and the vertebral column. The cranium is made up a lot of small bones; it is considered the top of the skull without the jaw or mandible. It protects the brain and many key organs. The cranium is really important to biological anthropologist when it comes to determining the age, sex and evolutionary history of the person. The mandible is the bone that is responsible for chewing and holds all of our bottom teeth. The vertebral column is what people usually call the backbone. It is a row of bones that form the backbone.
