/shtuyn"kern', -kerrn', stuyn"-/ , n. Archaeol.
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. Also called endocast .
[ Steinkern lit., stone, pit (of a fruit), equiv. to Stein STONE + Kern core, KERNEL ]