Research Article
Critical Analysis of the Concept of “Human Adaptations” to Discuss Its Adequacy with Socio-cultural Dynamics in Light with Ethnographic Observations and Archaeological Evidence
Medjo Protais Pamphile Patrice*
Issue:
Volume 12, Issue 1, June 2024
Pages:
1-12
Received:
26 January 2024
Accepted:
27 February 2024
Published:
13 March 2024
Abstract: The idea of defending the thesis of the ruin of purposes comes from an observation. It is that of recurrence to adaptation to infer cultural dynamics. The idea of “human adaptations” often serves as an alibi to explain the entire activity of human organizations. Thus, the formation of social institutions, the material equipment of human groups and their transformations are generally thought of as finalized processes. The object of this contribution then lies in the finalist character of the functionalist conception of the group. The problem therefore consists of establishing proof of the latent conflictuality in the notions of function and adaptation inseparable from the group. This is to operationalize, in the demonstration of the ruin of finalities, the conflictual character congenital to each of the two concepts. All operate paradoxically thanks to the uninterrupted cohesion of the group, however questionable. Conceptual tools such as dysfunction, perverse effect, due to functionalism, will serve as a theoretical foundation for this work. They are reinforced with theoretical references acquired from the idea of the contradiction of the social as well as concepts borrowed from human ecology. These tools will help highlight contradictions between intentional ends and their necessary conditions. The existence of such resistance would therefore be sufficient to explain the ruin of the purposes to which the idea of “human adaptations” subscribes. An analysis of ethnographic observations in northern Pakistan and southern Cameroon, compared with the results of archaeological excavations in the Near East and forested Central Africa, allows us to discuss the accomplishment of the purposes assumed in the explanation. functionalist of cultural dynamics.
Abstract: The idea of defending the thesis of the ruin of purposes comes from an observation. It is that of recurrence to adaptation to infer cultural dynamics. The idea of “human adaptations” often serves as an alibi to explain the entire activity of human organizations. Thus, the formation of social institutions, the material equipment of human groups and ...
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Research Article
The Analysis of Socio-cultural Dynamics in Ethnographic Context Demonstrates with Archaeological Witnesses, in Central Africa and the Middle East, the Gap Between Form and Function
Protais Pamphile Patrice Medjo*
Issue:
Volume 12, Issue 1, June 2024
Pages:
13-22
Received:
28 May 2024
Accepted:
17 June 2024
Published:
27 June 2024
Abstract: The morpho-functional categorization of material objects used in archaeology reflects a determinism. Form determines the function of a material object. The function is systematically deduced from the form even before the former manifests itself. However, the usefulness of an object can clearly override this prognosis. The problem, then, is to verify the pre-established relationship between a predetermined activity and a predefined set of morphological characteristics required to give a material object or an archaeological assemblage its name. The latter two are defined on the basis of a set of stable characteristics. The question is how to proceed in order to highlight the dynamic nature of the object or archaeological assemblage beyond the stable state of the combination of elements by which an ethnographic object or archaeological assemblage is identified? And how can we ascertain whether the set of morphological characteristics identified with an object, or the group of remains required to form an assemblage, can be explained systematically by a static need for overproduction that is generally attributed to human societies, regardless of context. The hypothesis asserts that the utility of the material object transcends morpho-functional limits. Just as the different states of descriptive variables in archaeological assemblages are not necessarily the consequence of a uniform and continuous need for overproduction. The aim of this study is therefore to discuss the relationship established between socio-cultural dynamics and the properties of the causes generally given as stable in the explanation of this phenomenon. The results drawn from an analysis of qualitative data, collected in the written literature and in the field, will serve as a basis for discussing the conceptual model established in the explanation of observable dynamics, concerning the material productions of human societies. The functionalism-nominalism-interactionism triad serves as the basis for the theory proposed to render intelligible the precarious quality of the causes at the origin of the transformations recorded in material objects in ethnographic or archaeological contexts.
Abstract: The morpho-functional categorization of material objects used in archaeology reflects a determinism. Form determines the function of a material object. The function is systematically deduced from the form even before the former manifests itself. However, the usefulness of an object can clearly override this prognosis. The problem, then, is to verif...
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