To what end a paper on the history of the concept of the chaîne opératoire? A response to Audouze et al.

ABSTRACT

Following my original paper on the history of the concept of the chaîne opératoire, Audouze and some colleagues responded by accusing me of being biased and defamatory in my exposé. In my response here I offer further evidence in support of my argument and, most importantly, suggest that the concept of the chaîne opératoire (1) is not the creation of a single man – André Leroi-Gourhan – but should be considered as the product of a time and a state of mind shared by many researchers; and (2) was introduced to prehistory (and lithic studies) by Jacques Tixier and Daniel Cahen in the late 1970s, independently of the complex filiation from ethnology to prehistory on the side of Leroi-Gourhan’s.

KEYWORDS:

• Chaîne opératoire
• lithic technology
• French Prehistory
• Leroi-Gourhan

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

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Christophe Delage

Christophe Delage (Ph.D., 2001, University of Paris 1-Sorbonne) is a specialist in lithic raw material sourcing in the Southern Levant. He has been working for the past 25 years in Northern Israel (Galilee) and Jordan (Azraq Basin, Central Jordan Valley) on mapping chert sources; and with that experience and knowledge, he has analysed archaeological lithic assemblages from the Acheulian (Gesher Benot Yaaqov) to the Neolithic (Munhata) with a strong emphasis on the Natufian (Hayonim, ‘Eynan, Wadi Hammeh 27) and the documentation of strategies of lithic procurement through time in that region. He has edited two books (2004, The Last Hunter-Gatherers in the Near East, BAR International Series 1320 [Oxford: John and Erica Hedges]; 2007, Chert Availability and Prehistoric Exploitation in the Near East, BAR International Series 1615 [Oxford: John and Erica Hedges]) and published various articles on these topics.