It has always stood, or nearly always: buried for long periods, partly damaged by the fill that covered it, weathered by the centuries of exposure since excavation.

But it has occupied a specific place in the world for longer than any civilization most people have heard of has existed.

The T-shaped form, the carved surface, the specific position within the enclosure: these persist.

And in their persistence, they pose a question that does not get resolved by more analysis, by more excavation, by more scientific instruments brought to bear on the stone.

The question is: what did you mean?