From past to present: building skill transfer in Tajikistan

Résumé En

This paper investigates the persistence of earthen construction techniques in Central Asia from ancient to modern times with a pertinent case study from Tajikistan. The article describes modalities of skill transfer in relation to earthen architecture and tests a new multidisciplinary approach to investigate the persistence of building practices. Architecture, especially earthen architecture, is one category of material culture that has been relatively little explored from this perspective. Particularly relevant for this case study is the combination of ethnoarchaeology and architectural analysis used to examine skill transfer and relationships between social identities and architecture. On the basis of the comparison between archaeological and ethnographic data, it is possible to determine the process behind skill transfer, its connection to society and the complex relationship between the natural and built environment.