ABSTRACT
The technological activity of societies always brings into play a combination of four elements: matter on which an action is directed; objects (‘tools’ or ‘means of work’, including the human body itself); gestures and movements organized in operational sequences; and a specific ‘knowledge’, conscious or unconscious, that may be expressed or not. These elements comprise a system, and are the basis of the diverse technologies in any given society (Gille 1978, Lemonnier 1983).
