steinkern

[ shtahyn-kern, -kurn, stahyn- ]

nounArchaeology.

the fossilized outline of a hollow organic structure, as a skull or a mollusk shell, formed when mud or sediment consolidated within the structure and the structure itself disintegrated or dissolved.

Origin of steinkern

¹

<German Steinkern literally, stone, pit (of a fruit), equivalent to Steinstone + Kern core, kernel

Also called endocast.

Words Nearby steinkern

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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