collar bone

The collar bone or clavicle is s-shaped when seen from the top. It is located directly under the skin, which makes it clearly visible (see the photo).

Most veins and nerves for the arms run under the middle of the collar bone, which makes one of the functions of the bone to protect these veins and nerves. The clavicle is also inportant in transferring forces to the arms.

The collar bones are connected to the breast bone on the front (the Sterno-Claviculaire joint) and to the shoulder blade at the other end (the Acromio-Claviculaire joint). Forces on the shoulder blade are transferred directly to the collar bone, which causes fracture of the collar bone to happen quite often when people fall on their shoulder.