The paired parietal bones join at the sagittal suture to form the sides and roof of the cranium. Aside from articulating with each other, the parietal bones articulate with the frontal (coronal suture), occipital (lambdoid suture), temporal (squamosal suture), and sphenoid bones. The external surface is marked by a point near the center called the parietal eminence. Inferior to this are two curving lines, the superior and inferior temporal lines.

The superior temporal line is the site of attachment of the temporalis muscle fascia and the inferior temporal line is the upper attachment of the temporalis muscle. The inner surface of the parietal bone has a sulcus for the superior sagittal sinus and accompanying foveolae granulares, depressions for the arachnoid granulations. Inferiorly, there is a groove for the middle meningeal artery.