Abstract

On the basis of the etho-archaeological research conducted within a team project coordinated by the author and entitled ‘Men and Primates in Perspective’, the different degrees of semiotisation at work in tool fabrication and use among chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), and the implications that these might have for understanding behaviour and cognition of early hominids are discussed. Primatologists demonstrated several years ago not only that traditions or cultures exist among non-humans, but also that a significant number of phenomena believed to be special attributes of the genus Homo (tool making, carnivory, self-consciousness, meta-representation …) must henceforth be tackled in a more extensive taxonomic context: that of hominoids. We argue that the same goes for the existence of representations, defined as forms independent of content or content independent of functions, which authors tend now to examine within a broader specific and temporal framework than imagined thus far. In this contribution the question of human cultural modernity is broached on the basis of techniques, representation, and semiosis of primate societies, whether human or not, illustrating this theme with the ethological and archaeological data published in the literature and findings made in West Africa during the past four years by the author, on the question of body techniques and on elementary actions on matter, as research in these domains allows us to avoid the problems inherent in the tool and the language (or symbol) that have masked all debates for more than a century.

Resumé

Sur la base des travaux étho-archéologiques que je dirige dans le cadre de l’équipe ‘Hommes et Primates en Perspective’, je montrerai les différents degrés de sémiotisation à l'oeuvre dans la fabrication et l'utilisation des outils chez les chimpanzés (Pan troglodytes) et les implications qu'ils peuvent avoir pour les Hominidés anciens. En effet, depuis quelques années nous avons pu démontrer l'existence de traditions ou de cultures chez des non-humains. De même, un grand nombre de phénomènes que l'on pensait être le propre du genre Homo (fabrication d'outils, carnivorie, conscience réfléchie, méta-représentations …) doivent désormais s'appréhender dans un espace d'espèces plus étendu: celui des Hominoïdes.