Wearing rams’ horns for the olive harvest: A Tunisian practice in decline
Type de matériel :
TexteLangue : français Détails de publication : 2026.
Ressources en ligne : Abrégé : This article examines the practice of rams’ horns being worn on the finger as a traditional tool during the olive harvest in Tunisia. It analyses different aspects of the practice, particularly the immateriality underlying the horns’ materiality. This research is inspired by the lack of interest hitherto in traditional tools and the various dimensions associated with them, in particular from an anthropological perspective. Drawing on fieldwork, this article is intended as an anthropological reading based on ethnographic insights and specific historical facts. The preparation of the horns as well as their use is a type of knowledge that is handed down in families and also a seasonal craft that is practiced in numerous regions in Tunisia. The horns go through different stages before they are transformed into a tool for the harvest, used in harmony with the harvester’s hand, their principal (biological) tool. The practice integrates natural and social aspects with biological and cultural ones, alongside the symbolic nature of horns as well. Sadly, this use of horns for the olive harvest is slowly disappearing, one region after the other, and can now only be found in a small number of olive farms. This study can thus also be regarded as a way of preserving this cultural feature threatened with extinction.
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This article examines the practice of rams’ horns being worn on the finger as a traditional tool during the olive harvest in Tunisia. It analyses different aspects of the practice, particularly the immateriality underlying the horns’ materiality. This research is inspired by the lack of interest hitherto in traditional tools and the various dimensions associated with them, in particular from an anthropological perspective. Drawing on fieldwork, this article is intended as an anthropological reading based on ethnographic insights and specific historical facts. The preparation of the horns as well as their use is a type of knowledge that is handed down in families and also a seasonal craft that is practiced in numerous regions in Tunisia. The horns go through different stages before they are transformed into a tool for the harvest, used in harmony with the harvester’s hand, their principal (biological) tool. The practice integrates natural and social aspects with biological and cultural ones, alongside the symbolic nature of horns as well. Sadly, this use of horns for the olive harvest is slowly disappearing, one region after the other, and can now only be found in a small number of olive farms. This study can thus also be regarded as a way of preserving this cultural feature threatened with extinction.




Réseaux sociaux