Société d'Ethnologie“On Tuesday 5 March 2024 at 5pm, at the invitation of the Société d’ethnologie, Catherine Perlès, Professor Emeritus at the University of Paris Nanterre, will give the nineteenth Eugène Fleischmann Lecture at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac.
Towards a new prehistory of fire
The prehistory of fire once seemed relatively simple and linear, and if the picture was blurred, it was because of the poor preservation of ancient remains. It was assumed that we first had to overcome “the instinctive fear of fire”, thanks to the development of the brain. Then, in an unconsciously Promethean vision, fire, the bearer of all promise, was to be rapidly adopted and widely disseminated. However, work in ethology is calling into question the very basis of this scenario, while more recent archaeological research shows that the use of fire developed very slowly and in an irregular fashion, even though its technical applications are proving to be older and richer than previously thought. Ultimately, re-examining the prehistory of fire forces us to question our modern vision of fire and its advantages, and to consider the conditions under which innovation and the spread of techniques took place in remote prehistoric times.
Meet up on Tuesday 5 March 2024 at 5pm at the musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, cinema room.
Admission is free, but you can register by email: societe.ethnologie@gmail.com
Source : MSH Mondes
