Session: #121

Regular session

The concept of “chaine opératoire” was first formulated by the french anthropologist and archaeologist André Leroi-Gourhan, based on the work of Marcel Mauss on the development of an ethnographic approach to the study of techniques. From the 1970s, The chaine operatoire became a cornerstone of the technical studies carried out in archeology particularly by lithic specialists. Although this approach has been applied to a wide range of other periods and materials (e.g. architecture or bone remains), the theoretical discussions about the chaine opératoire and the scientific practices that accompany it, remain seemingly a domain of prehistory and lithic studies. Besides, a broad literature exists on the application of the technological approach to the understanding of various crossroads between societies and productions in anthropology and sociology.
This session aims at re-discussing the technological approach, considering its diachronic application to different artefacts and materials. In particular, it focuses on the study of objects as a formal (standardized) language, which could be used to outline a biographical narrative of an artefact. We wish to discuss the different ways this fundamental concept is applied in general archaeology and the methodological and theoretical advances of it outside of lithic analysis. We welcome all researchers who question the chaine opératoire-concept and its place in contemporary archaeological research through innovative and interdisciplinary approaches and who present case studies where the analyses of technological processes help to decipher the intricate network of past artefacts, environments and societies.

technological turn, ethnographic study of techniques, biographical approach

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Marie-Elise Porqueddu (France) ¹

Anaïs Lamesa (France) ²
Claudia Sciuto (Italy) ³
Markus Wild (Germany) ^4,5