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Pottery Dynamics in Southern Niger: Reshaping a Theory of Social Materializations

par Gosselain, Olivier
Référence Theoretical Archaeology Group Meeting (6-8 mai 2011: University of California, Berkeley)
Publication Non publié, 2011-05-07

Communication à un colloque

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Résumé :

In a 2000 issue of the Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, I proposed to view pottery traditions as technical aggregates whose various components had the ability to inform about different facets of social identity. Fashioning techniques were said to reflect deeper parts of identity -such as language or socio-professional affiliation-, while decorating techniques and motives were associated with more superficial and situational facets of identity. Although allowing making sense of the spatial distribution of potting techniques observed at various scales across the African continent, the model poses several problems. In particular, its explanatory framework centres on the intrinsic properties of technical actions (low vs. high visibility on finished product; specialized vs. unspecialized gestures) at the expanse of the social context of activity. In terms of cultural dynamics, it also highlights transmission upon practice. Exploiting data collected in Southern Niger between 2002 and 2010, and relying on the concepts of situated learning and communities of practice, I will show that a different explanation may be offered. In deep analysis of potters’ behaviour and changing relations within their social world of activity shows indeed that individuals are fully aware of the relationships between “doing” and “being”, and act upon their technical repertoire accordingly. As the meaning given to technical action arise both from the early modalities of learning and the social trajectory of practitioners, techniques may be reproduced, transformed, or replaced, irrespectively of their intrinsic qualities. Potters, in other words, shape the destiny of their own traditions, and, through it, their own destiny. Such perspective does not only provide a more satisfying way of explaining the relationship between social identity and technical actions. It also compels us to pay more attention to the content and dynamics of technical repertoires at every step of the manufacturing process. Key elements in that regard are the interconnectedness of the environmental and social milieus, as well as the geography of individual contacts.