The project focuses on the history of women in the southern part of Dendi (Niger Valley, Northern Benin). Absent traditional and
official narratives, the place and the voice of women in the socio-economic upheavals in the region between the late 19th and 20th
centuries (Islamization, colonization, independence, Marxist revolution) remain unknown. The project objective is to develop a
method suitable for the reconstruction of the recent history of a group ''target'' marginalized. Based on the achievements of the
cultural technology, my approach is to use the material culture and techniques as alternative historical sources in two observational
contexts. The first deals with daily activities (domestic, commercial, agricultural), the second covers the ceremonial activities
(initiation, marriage, possession). For each of these spheres, the constituent technical processes of the various activities will
be identified: the actors and social relations, materials, tools and objects, gestures, and mobilized representations. Such
analysis allows then multiscalar a comparative study. To enter the diachronic, this analytical and comparative perspective will be
related with the life trajectory of informants. While helping to fill the gaps documentaries on history, still poorly understood, in
this region of West Africa, the project involved the renewal of objects and methods of historical research on marginalized groups.