To account for their approach, archaeologists often say to make the objects speak. However, it is not just an illustrative metaphor but the heart of a scientific practice. It is therefore necessary to describe how this dialogue between deceased persons, objects and researchers takes place. For lithic technologists, the chaîne opératoire plays a central role that unifies the discipline. However, the chaîne opératoire can not be considered as a naturally effective tool that would only bring the expected conditions of objectivity. While it does provide the basis for a solid analytic construct, the operative chain does not reduce certain paradigms that are not necessarily explicit in the literature. Uses of the chaîne opératoire can thus be divided into two poles that interpenetrate often : a tool-function and a revelation-function.