To "Find Man" (i.e., women and men, and even their children) in knapped stone, such was, in one way or another, the ambition of André Leroi-Gourhan and Jacques Tixier. It requires, of course, documentary knowledge as outlined in the first session (of the artefacts found in the sites, the geography and the chronology...). But their mere compilation is not enough. It is also necessary to appreciate these artefacts with a technical eye, i.e., to read in them the succession of gestures and technical steps from which they arise, with the help of experimental analogy linked to the techniques themselves, to geological references as to the origin of the artefacts, or even to general notions of psychology. This is what Jacques Pelegrin is trying to show in this final session: how the combination of such observations and knowledge manage to add a little humanity to these famous knapped flint(s)...
Knapped stones, evidence of the mental abilities of their creators
Let us begin this session by presenting in the following video the knapped stones as evidence of the mental abilities of their creators. Indeed, it appears, among other things, that our ancestors of several hundreds of thousands of years already showed modern technical intelligence...
Knapped stones, evidence of culture, migration and "encounters"
When human groups share the same technical practices over long periods of time and great distances, prehistorians then talk about traditions or even cultures as Jacques Pelegrin explains in this video. But they can also observe migration from individuals or interactions between groups...
Knapped stones, potential items from specialists
During the Neolithic period, particular lithic products, especially in the domain of blades and axe- heads, resulted from the work of specialists, in a wide variety of forms... This is what Jacques Pelegrin shows us in the video below.
Summary
To conclude this presentation, Jacques Pelegrin invites you to understand in this last video that Prehistory reasserts several aspects of human nature: our intelligence and inventiveness, our playful, social and symbolic dimensions.
Bibliographical references
- Klaric, L. (ed.) 2018. L’apprenti préhistorique : appréhender l’apprentissage, les savoir-faire et l’expertise à travers les productions techniques des sociétés préhistoriques. Brno: The Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology. 375 pp.
- Pelegrin, J., Mallet, N., Ihuel, E., Millet-Richard, L.-A. & Verjux, C. 2015. Le phénomène pressignien. In: Signes de richesse. Inégalités au Néolithique (A. Chancerel, first curator). Exhibition booklet: 92–100. Paris: RMN.
- Picq, P. & Roche, H. 2013. Les premiers outils. Paris: Le Pommier. 144 pp.
- Ploux, S. & Karlin, C., 1994. Le travail de la pierre au Paléolithique ou comment retrouver l’acteur technique et social grâce aux vestiges archéologiques. In B. Latour & P. Lemonnier (dirs): De la Préhistoire aux missiles balistiques: 65–82. Paris: La découverte.
- Pelegrin, J. 2017. As Experimentaçoes em Tecnologia Litica. In: Tecnologia litica na arqueologia brasileira: coletana de (re)publicaçoes org. L. Fernandes & D. Duarte-Talim (eds): 29–37. Belo Horizonte: Museu de Historia Natural da UFMG.
- Pelegrin, J., Rodet, M.-J., Duarte-Talim, D. 2017. Método para estudo de industrias liticas lascadas: a Analise Tecnologica. In: Tecnologia litica na arqueologia brasileira: coletana de (re)publicaçoes org. L. Fernandes & D. Duarte-Talim (eds): 13–28. Belo Horizonte: Museu de Historia Natural da UFMG.
- Pelegrin, J. 2020. A tecnologia litica à francesa. Revista de Arqueologia 33, 1: 221–243. DOI: 10.24885/sab.v33i1.
- Tradução e atualização em Portugues de « Technologie de la Pierre taillée, 1995, M.-L. Inizan, M. Reduron-Ballinger, H. Roche, J. Tixier, CREPE »: Tecnologia da Pedra Lascada, Ediçao revisida, atualizada e ampliada com definiçoes e exemplos brasileiros para M.-J. Rodet e J. de Resende Machado. Belo Horizonte: Museu de Historia Natural e Jardim Botanico de UFMG (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais).