I was drawn to it because of the smooth wear of the old wood. Today it stands in an insignificant place tucked into the corner near the bathroom past the main entrance.
Forgotten and useless and not ornate, one really needs to stop and question what its purpose is. It takes less than a millisecond to realize there is no purpose. It is not a shelf, or counter or storage space.
Did you know, it is a food processing tool, part of a machine which, long ago, created food production with the inclusion of labor, power, and raw materials.
This pin created a heavy crushing surface worn smooth.
It belonged to an ancient, lost people who migrated nomadically through this valley. It was the center of their culture, the proverbial hearth.
It was disassembled and carried with the group from valley to valley, from season to season, and generation to generation, and life to life.