Use sodium carbonate (sofa ash/washing soda) in the water when you simmer.
The meat and connective tissues turn to jelly and come off a lot easier. Means you don’t have to simmer as long and the bone doesn’t deteriorate as much.
Keep skimming the fat off the top of the water with a ladle so the fat doesn’t pool on the top and soak into the bone there. Most greasy skulls seem to be saturated near where they were closest to the top of the water, exactly where the oil floats on top.
I’ve seen many skulls that were macerated where the sutures are “loose” and the bone seems more brittle. The point about maceration and infection isn’t one to be taken lightly. I got a really nasty infection from macerating hides to remove the hair when tanning. I only dry scrape now.
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