The infraorbital and mandibular arise from a common stem, the terminal part of which anastomoses with the external carotid.

The external and internal carotids lie side by side, the external being the more anterior of the two.

The following branches of the external carotid are also met with in this space:

The hypoglossal nerve crosses both the internal and external carotids, curving around the origin of the occipital artery.

Superficial temporal artery (from external carotid)

The external carotid is also occluded to avoid flow traveling from the external one back up the internal one.

The left anterior lobe of my brain is now served by the left external carotid via this roundabout bypass.

The lingual artery arises from the external carotid between the superior thyroid artery and facial artery.

The superficial temporal artery is the smaller of two terminal branches that bifurcate superiorly from the external carotid.

Based on its direction, the superficial temporal artery appears to be a continuation of the external carotid.