Comparing chaînes opératoires: technological, cultural and chronological features of pre-pastoral and pastoral ceramic and lithic productions

In this paper ceramic and lithic chaînes opératoires are regarded as parallel tracks of the same, non-linear path. The chaînes opératoires are compared focusing on the materials and the technologies selected by the artisans with specific regard to two crucial stages in the prehistory of the Libyan Sahara: the cultural horizons immediately preceding and following the adoption of the food producing economy based on animal herding. For each step of the manufacturing sequences, the raw materials and techniques used in the two horizons are compared in order to observe cultural, behavioural and chronological changes. In particular, this paper shows that the different stages are technically similar in both ceramic and lithic manufactures and that, for this reason, their analyses can be parallel and comparable. The economic transition from one horizon to the other is accompanied by cultural and chronological changes that are also reflected in the chaînes opératoires.