Pourquoi le décorer? Quelques observations sur le décor céramique en Afrique

Abstract

Since the publication of ‘Why pots are decorated’ (David et al. 1988), pottery decoration has tended to become a secondary concern for Africanist archaeologists, who now favour other topics such as manufacturing techniques or consumption processes. At the time, the paper spelt the end of an endless debate about style that centred on the question of the marking of social boundaries. By illustrating the religious dimension of ornamental practices, David et al. (1988) not only opened new interpretation avenues: they also brought decoration back among other elements of the chaîne opératoire, the symbolic dimensions of which were then put forward by a growing number of anthropologists. Today, this theory seems as problematic as the one that it sought to replace. Clearly, the time has come to put décor on the spot again, but favouring a broader perspective than in the past in order to eschew previous pitfalls. This is the aim of this paper, built on ethnographic observations made across the continent. First, some classical aspects of décor analysis are considered, with a view to illustrating the complexity of ornamental practices as well as the dangers of univocal interpretations. Second, new means of interpretation are illustrated that relate to the spatialisation and dynamics of social worlds in the making.

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