Bone · Neck

Atlas

Atlas

The atlas is the first vertebra of the neck, and it is a ring rather than a block — it has no body and no spinous process. It cradles the two condyles of the skull in a pair of shallow cups, and that joint is where nodding 'yes' happens. The suboccipital muscles connect it to the skull above and the axis below, which is why they are so involved in the fine positioning of the head.