steinkern

[shtahyn-kern, -kurn, stahyn-]

noun Archaeology.

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

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

Also called endocast.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018