Also arising from the posterior aspect of the external carotid artery is the occipital artery, which ascends in a posterior direction, passes through several layers of back musculature, and emerges to supply a large part of the posterior aspect of the scalp.
The third arterial branch supplying the scalp is the superficial temporal artery, a terminal branch of the external carotid artery that passes superiorly, just anterior to the ear, divides into anterior and posterior branches, and supplies almost the entire lateral aspect of the scalp.