Paper short abstract:

Relating André Leroi-Gourhan's early works in the Pacific to evolutionist and culture historical paradigms help us grasp his subsequent shift from civilisation to technology: from traits to be localised in time and space to techniques as constituent elements of the social and natural 'milieu'.

Paper long abstract:

The teachings of Marcel Mauss served André Leroi-Gourhan (1911 - 1986) as a point of departure for developing an anthropological or cultural approach to technology that is now prevalent in the French social sciences. In his first decade of research activities (mid 1930's to mid 1940's), however, Leroi-Gourhan was more of an orientalist, focusing on the ethnography and history of art of the arctic and pacific 'culture areas'. Relating this work to the then dominant evolutionist and culture historical paradigms can help us better grasp the shift subsequently undertaken by Leroi-Gourhan from civilisation to technology: from objectified markers or traits to be localised in time and space, techniques became constituent elements of the 'milieu' through which societies interfaced with each other and their environment, and also a quintessential human characteristic as expressed in gesture and speech. Outlining some of the ideological, theoretical and practical underpinnings of these developments (e.g. from cartography to experimentation) can put in perspective the changing relations between archaeology and anthropology during the 20th century, and possibly lead us to new configurations.