coquina
Clam-based building stone
Coquina is a soft, porous limestone composed of broken shell fragments cemented together.
Found along coastal areas, it was used historically as a building material—notably in Florida's Castillo de San Marcos, where its ability to absorb cannonball impacts proved advantageous.
Coquina also names a small wedge-shaped clam common on Atlantic beaches: The children collected coquina shells as the waves receded.
Building with mortared blocks
- mortarGrinding bowl or binder
- tabbyPatterned domestic cat
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
- SpanishLanguage of Iberia
colonial · St. Augustine · aggregate · historic · architecture · facade · durable · edifice
Two-shelled mollusk
- molluskSoft-bodied invertebrate, often shelled
- clamSand-dwelling hinged shellfish
- beachSandy waterside margin
- shorelineLand-water boundary
tidal · coastal · colorful · delicate · tiny · filter-feeder · wedge-shaped · butterfly
masonry
Building with mortared blocks
- mortarGrinding bowl or binder
- tabbyPatterned domestic cat
- fortificationStrengthening defenses or nutrients
Spanish · colonial · St. Augustine · aggregate · historic · architecture · facade · durable · edifice · quarry
bivalve
Two-shelled mollusk
- molluskSoft-bodied invertebrate, often shelled
- clamSand-dwelling hinged shellfish
- beachSandy waterside margin
shoreline · tidal · coastal · colorful · delicate · tiny · filter-feeder · wedge-shaped · butterfly · intertidal
sedimentary
Formed from deposited material
- calciteCrystalline calcium carbonate
- cementationMineral-binding of particles
- geologyStudy of Earth's composition
strata · bedrock · fossilized · porous · carbonate · formation · deposit · Florida · coastal · compacted
clams
Edible burrowing mollusks
- brothClear simmered meat liquid
- stewSlow-simmered meat dish
- shellfishAquatic creatures with exoskeletons
chowder · paella · sautéed · garlic · steamed · Portuguese · Spanish · tapas · seafood · bouillabaisse
- rocksbasalt, granite, sandstone, marble, shale
- bivalvesclams, clam, mussels, scallops, mussel
- mollusksclams, mollusk, mollusks, snail, snails
- traditional materialsadobe, brick, stone, wood, thatch
- building stoneashlar, bluestone, brownstone, building stone, cobblestone
- filter feedersfilter feeder, filter feeders, filter feeding, baleen whale, whale shark