Reconsidering the Chaîne Opératoire: Towards a Multifaceted Approach to the Archaeology of Techniques

The special issue Reconsidering the Chaîne Opératoire: Towards a Multifaceted Approach to the Archaeology of Techniques is aimed at re-discussing the theory and methods of technological studies, considering their diachronic application to different contexts and materials. In particular, we wish to focus on the study of objects as a formal (standardised) language, which could be used to outline a horizontal narrative of artefacts making as well as that of human communities. A long tradition of studies is devoted to the chaîne opératoire (CO) as a fundamental concept in archaeology, while new reflections stem from the application of such a structuralist concept within new theoretical schemes. While the CO framework has been formulated, systematically implemented, and continues to be developed particularly within the field of prehistoric lithic industries, this issues collects contributions in which the taxonomy of technicity has been applied to outline specific patterns in different chronological and material contexts. Contributions address one of the following perspectives on the application of the CO: the biographical narrative of artefacts’ trajectories; the taxonomic description of gestures and skills behind the making of an object; an effort in understanding the relationships between craftspersons, societies and the environment, facing the challenges of interdisciplinarity. These research axes highlight the networks existing between individuals and materials, whether crafting is perceived as a process in which multiple human and non-human agencies are intertwined, or as practices reflecting artisanal traditions and cultural identities