The process whose specific outcome is the progression of a cranial skeletal system over time, from its formation to the mature structure. The cranial skeletal system is the skeletal subdivision of the head, and includes the skull (cranium plus mandible), pharyngeal and/or hyoid apparatus. [ GOC:PARL GOC:TermGenie GOC:bf http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/go/references/0000094 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11262227 ]