Spinal vertebrae, 18th-century illustration. At top is an atlas vertebra, the uppermost cervical vertebra that joins the neck to the skull. below this is a cervical vertebra, with lumbar vertebrae at centre right and bottom. This illustration is from 'Osteographia, or the Anatomy of the bones' (London, 1733) by English surgeon and anatomist William Cheselden (1688-1752). It was the first full and accurate description of the anatomy of the human skeletal system.