Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Anatomy of the (human) neck In the middle line below the chin can be felt thebody of the hyoid bone, just below which is the prominence ofthe thyroid cartilage called "Adam's apple," better markedin men than in women. Still lower the cricoid cartilage iseasily felt, while between this and the suprasternal notchthe trachea and isthmus of the thyroid gland may be madeout. At the side the outline of the sterno-mastoid muscleis the most striking mark; it divides the anterior triangleof the neck from the posterior. The upper part of the formercontains the submaxillary gland, which lies just below theposterior half of the body of the jaw. The line of thecommon and the external carotid arteries may be marked byjoining the sterno-clavicular articulation to the angle of thejaw. The eleventh or spinal accessory nerve correspondsto a line drawn from a point midway between the angleof the jaw and the mastoid process to the middle of theposterior border of the sterno-mastoid muscle and thenceacross the posterior triangle to the deep surface of thetrapezius. The external jugular vein can usually be seenthrough the skin; it runs in a line drawn from the angle ofthe jaw to the middle of the clavicle, and close to it aresome small lymphatic glands. The anterior jugular vein issmaller, and runs down about half an inch from the middleline of the neck. The clavicle or collar-bone forms thelower limit of the neck, and laterally the outward slope ofthe neck to the shoulder is caused by the trapezius muscle. (from an old encyclopedia) Neck (music) See fingerboard This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.