Archéologie funéraire et ethnicité en Gaule à l’époque mérovingienne (réponse à Guy Halsall) By Patrick PERIN

https://www.academia.edu/144639734/Arch%C3%A9ologie_fun%C3%A9raire_et_ethnicit%C3%A9_en_Gaule_%C3%A0_l_%C3%A9poque_m%C3%A9rovingienne_r%C3%A9ponse_%C3%A0_Guy_Halsall_ The sharp criticism towards us by Guy Halsall (GH), expressed in his article "Ethnicity and early medieval cemeteries," published in 2011 in Archaeology and ethnicity. Reassessing the "Visigothic necropolis", is for us an opportunity not only to respond to our colleague, but to reaffirm our views on archaeological data and their historical interpretation regarding the archaeological evidences of the barbarian groups operating in the territory of the Western Roman Empire. We need to underline that our difference of view with GH is based primarily on a different approach to the ethnic concept in traditional societies. We consider these societies as heterogeneous structures, which under a political label grouped people of diverse origin. On the other hand, we must be conscious that the concept of an ethnic group, a people or tribe varies by time, space and historical context. It is also true in a way, as writes precisely GH, that ethnicity is a "state of mind", i.e. the willingness of an individual to identify with a human group. But a change of ethnic identity and therefore cultural is, in our view, a long and complex process. No individual can shed quickly and voluntarily the cultural baggage that he received from his childhood, from its original surroundings, as his way of behaving, thinking, reacting, eating, sleeping, dress, make war etc. All these cultural characteristics to an individual or to a human group leave material traces, which are the subject of the Ethnology in respect to 'Modern traditional societies' and of the Archaeology for the so-called "dead" societies. ..