Algunos aspectos intelectuales de la paleoetnología de Leroi-Gourhan

Abstract

This article describes the intellectual context surrounding André Leroi-Gourhan’s work. At the beginning, ethnology faced the dilemma of methodological continuity, the choice between physical and cultural anthropology and the separation of kingdoms, on the one hand, and the ideological effect stemming from the Darwinist solution: the so-called “social evolutionism”, on the other, a clear expression of Western ethnocentrism. This dichotomy was overcome by the reverse effect of evolution, as Patrick Tort called it. Thus the text has a dual objective: to define for some the scope of ethnology and to identify for others the differences between ethnology and sociology as well as between ethnology and social anthropology. Therefore, Leroi-Gourhan received the legacy of a dual tradition, one based on primitive sociology –Marcel Mauss- and another one linked to naturalists and physicians –Paul Rivet-, who proved that, above all, ethnology is a complex science that takes into account past and present technical, economic, social and esthetic issues, seeking to shed light on human beings and their values, as a whole.