The article is divided into three sections. The first section searches for the essence of object biographies and histories. The second section addresses the issue how understanding material culture influences the conceptualisation of the treated approach. In answer to this question the article presents the influence of the genealogy of archaeology’s understanding of material culture and object histories in different periods of archaeological science. The third section brings a survey of the use of such an approach in scientific (archaeological, ethnological) literature and other literatures.