Technological Choices: Transformation in Material Cultures Since the Neolithic

437 Pages·1993·13.924 MB·English

by  Pierre Lemonnier

TECHNOLOGICAL CHOICES
Technological Choices deals with the adoption or rejection by a society of
certain technological innovations and the cultural processes which result in
this selection. It demonstrates that in any society, such choices result from
cultural values and social relations, rather than inherent benefits in the
technology itself. This revolutionary viewpoint has crucial implications for
current western societies.
The book is based on case studies covering a wide chronological and
geographic span - from Neolithic Europe to modern industry via Papua
New Guinea tribes, rural societies in India and North Africa and several
European peasant communities. Techniques studied range from the manu-
facture of stone implements to high-tech transportation devices.
Technological Choices breaks new ground by the breadth of its scope and its
multidisciplinary approach, and by its very emphasis on choice. It is also
unusual in its focus on the functional aspects of material culture.
Technological Choices will be of great interest to students of the history of
technology, archaeology and anthropology. It will also be essential reading
for economists and social historians.
Pierre Lemonnier heads a research team at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique, and teaches at the University of Paris I. He has
carried out extensive research in social anthropology in Papua New Guinea.
MATERIAL CULTURES
Interdisciplinary studies in the material construction of social worlds
Series Editors: Daniel Miller, Dept of Anthropology, University
College London; Michael Rowlands, Dept of Anthropology, University
College London; Christopher Tilly, Dept of Archaeology,
St David's University College, Wales.
MATERIAL CULTURE AND TEXT
The Art of Ambiguity
Christopher Tilly
ARCHAEOLOGICAL THEORY IN EUROPE
The Last Three Decades
Edited by Ian Hodder
EXPERIENCING THE PAST
On the Character of Archaeology
Michael Shanks
THEORY AND PRACTICE IN ARCHAEOLOGY
Ian Hodder
ARCHITECTURE AND ORDER
Approaches to Social Space
Michael Parker Pearson and Colin Richards
TECHNOLOGICAL
CHOICES
Transformation in material cultures since
the Neolithic
Edited by
Pierre Lemonnier
London and New York
First published 1993
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York NY 10016
Reprinted 2000, 2001,2002
Transferred to Digital Printing 2006
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor <£ Francis Group
© 1993 Pierre Lemonnier
Set in 10/12pt Garamond, Linotron 300
by Florencetype Ltd, Kewstoke, Avon
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Lemonnier, Pierre
Technological Choices: Transformation in
Material Cultures Since the Neolithic
I. Title
306.4
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Lemonnier, Pierre
Technological choices : transformation in material cultures since
the neolithic / Pierre Lemonnier.
p. cm. — (Material cultures)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Technology—Social aspects. I. Title. II. Series.
T14.5.L44 1992
303.48'3-dc20
92-23310 CIP
ISBN 0-415-07331-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-134-52299-6 (ebk)
Publisher's Note
The publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure
the quality of this reprint but points out that
some imperfections in the original may be apparent
Printed and bound by CPI Antony Rowe, Eastbourne
CONTENTS
Notes on contributors vii
Acknowledgements ix
List of figures xi
List of plates xiv
List of tables xvi
Introduction 1
Pierre Lemonnier
1 NORTH WIND, SOUTH WIND 36
Neolithic technical choices in the Jura Mountains, 3700-2400 BC
Pierre Petrequin
2 THE WATCH AND THE WATERCLOCK 77
Technological choices/social choices
Genevieve Bedoucha
3 THE REINDEERMAN'S LASSO 108
Tim Ingold
4 PIGS AS ORDINARY WEALTH 126
Technical logic, exchange and leadership in New Guinea
Pierre Lemonnier
5 POTTERY TECHNIQUES IN INDIA 157
Technical variants and social choice
Marie-Claude Mahias
6 OF MILLS AND WATERWHEELS 181
The hidden parameters of technological choice
Robert Cresswell
7 TECHNICAL INNOVATION AND CULTURAL
RESISTANCE 214
The social weight of plowing in the vineyards of Les
Corbieres (Languedoc)
Georges Guille-Escuret
v
CONTENTS
8 THE HUNTER AND HIS GUN IN HAUTE-PROVENCE 227
Nicolas C. Govoroff
9 GIVING THE POTTER A CHOICE 238
Conceptual aspects of pottery techniques
Sander van der Leeww
10 A GAZOGENE IN COSTA RICA 289
An experiment in techno-sociology
Madeleine Akrich
11 THE FACTORY AS ARTEFACT 338
Bryan Pfaffenberger
12 ETHNOGRAPHY OF A "HIGH-TECH" CASE 372
About Aramis
Bruno Latour
13 DOMINANT REPRESENTATIONS AND
TECHNICAL CHOICES 399
A method of analysis with examples from aeronautics
Jean-Frangois Qnilici-Pacaud
Index 413
VI
CONTRIBUTORS
Pierre Lemonnier is a Charge de Recherche at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S).
Pierre Petrequin is a Directeur de Recherche at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique.
Genevieve Bedoucha is a Chargee de Recherche at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique.
Tim Ingold is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology at the
University of Manchester.
Marie-Claude Mahias is a Chargee de Recherche at the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique.
Robert Cresswell is a Directeur de Recherche at the Centre National de la
Recherche Scientifique. He teaches at the University Paris V.
Georges Guille-Escuret is a Charge de Recherche at the Centre National de
la Recherche Scientifique.
Nicolas Govoroff is a Doctor in ethnology and a member of the Laboratoire
d'Ethnologie et de Sociologie Comparative (University Paris X, Nanterre).
Sander van der Leeuw is a Lecturer in the Department of Archaeology,
Cambridge University.
Madeleine Akrich is a Chargee de Recherche at the Centre de Sociologie de
Plnnovation, Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris.
Bryan Pfaffenberger is an Assistant Professor at the School of Engineering
and Applied Science, University of Virginia.
Bruno Latour is a Professor at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de
Paris and also at the University of California (San Diego).
Jean-Francois Quilici-Pacaud worked as an Engineer at Renault Cars for
25 years (now retired). He trained at the Ecole Centrale.
vii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The editor and publishers would like to thank the Fondation de la Maison
des sciences de l'homme for their financial assistance with translations.
Thanks also to the research team "Techniques et culture" of the Centre
National de la Recherche Scientifique for its constant backing in this
undertaking.
VI