François Bordes and the Old Stone Age

James R Sackett

doi:10.5334/bha.243

Abstract

<p class="p1">This is a highly personal description of the character and work of the great French archaeologist François Bordes, with whom Sackett worked for over twenty years. A native of France’s Perigord region, the prehistory of which he explored for most of his career, Bordes regarded himself as a ‘journeyman field worker’ or ‘homme de terrain’. However his contributions to Palaeolithic archaeology had an impact on the whole of the prehistory of Eurasia and beyond. This was the result of his innovative approaches to excavation and to the analysis of stone tool assemblages. Bordes participated in, and enjoyed debating the controversies between archaeological method and theory – and unfortunately, he also promoted factionalism within the French archaeological community.

Highlights

This is a highly personal description of the character and work of the great French archaeologist François Bordes, with whom Sackett worked for over twenty years
His contributions to Palaeolithic archaeology had an impact on the whole of the prehistory of Eurasia and beyond
This was the result of his innovative approaches to excavation and to the analysis of stone tool assemblages

Summary

Introduction

This is a highly personal description of the character and work of the great French archaeologist François Bordes, with whom Sackett worked for over twenty years. Given the taphonomic complexity of their sites and the recalcitrant, one might say defiantly alien, nature of Palaeolithic stone tools, traditional researchers understandably adopted a form of what I call straight archaeology.

Results

Conclusion