[1] The artery passes superoposteriorly deep to the posterior belly of the digastricus muscle.

[1] It next ascends to the interval between the transverse process of the atlas and the mastoid process of the temporal bone, and passes horizontally backward, grooving the surface of the latter bone, being covered by the sternocleidomastoideus, splenius capitis, longissimus capitis, and digastricus, and resting upon the rectus capitis lateralis, the obliquus superior, and semispinalis capitis.

It then changes its course and runs vertically upward, pierces the fascia connecting the cranial attachment of the trapezius with the sternocleidomastoideus, and ascends in a tortuous course in the superficial fascia of the scalp, where it divides into numerous branches, which reach as high as the vertex of the skull and anastomose with the posterior auricular and superficial temporal arteries.

Its terminal portion is accompanied by the greater occipital nerve.

This article incorporates text in the public domain from page 556 of the 20th edition of Gray's Anatomy (1918) ocular group: central retinal