Time, memory and alterity in prehistoric lithic technology: Synthesis and perspectives of the French technogenetic approach

Abstract

The technogenetic approachin the field of prehistoric lithic technology studies originated in the late 1980s. Traditional approaches, such as typology and production technology, have tended to approach prehistoric lithic objects through their socio-cultural and economic dimensions, without really considering the existence of a technogenesis prior to these contingencies. The apprehension of this technogenetic dimension in prehistory will call upon both the philosophy and the anthropology of techniques to lead to a double approach of the artefacts: a technogenetic approach of the lithic object according to the technical criteria of its genesis; and a psychosocial approach of the object according to the criteria proper to its artisanal production within a major technical system. The objective of this article is to identify two fundamental existencesconstituting the technical object, one internal (technogenetic) with technical lineages and the other external (psychosocial) with technical trajectories. The spatio-temporal distribution of prehistoric technical otherness on different continents has logically led to new questions, findings and new criteria of analysis. On this basis, our approach will aim to revisit the main conceptual axes of the foundations of the technological approach, to clarify old questions while developing new expertise. Through the application of key concepts such as time, memoryand otherness, an overall methodology will also be discussed and will help proposing its epistemological line.