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Local woman Becky Saunder (33) has tapped into her ancient berry-picking roots by salvaging a battered stool from a council clean-up, declaring it “full of potential” with a bit of TLC.
Hailed as an evolutionary throwback to prehistoric foraging, her find recalls early women scouring landscapes for useful items while men hunted wooly mammoths. Instead of berries or rocks, she’s hauling home a wobbly stool with chipped paint and a missing leg, stating, “It just needs a sand and a lick of paint.”
“It’s funny,” Becky explained.
“They used to forage for food; I forage for furniture. We’re not so different.”
Her partner, less enthused, says “We’ve already got chairs,” echoing the grumbles of an early cave man over yet another bundle of unnecessary branches.
Sociologists see meaning in the act. “This reconnects us with prehistoric roles,” said Dr. Fiona Hayes, an anthropologist. “The image of the cavewoman as a berry-picker extends to adaptability. That stool is today’s ripe berry.”
Her restoration plans—sanding, reattaching the leg, and varnishing—are modern echoes of crafting tools from flint. “It’s about giving new life to something old,” she explained. “Plus, it’s sustainable.”
Whether trend or quirk, the stool transcends a potential market place resale or new piece of furniture. It symbolises a long lineage of survival. From berry-picking to council clean-ups, the instinct endures.
