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The Memory Code
The discovery of a powerful memory technique used by our Neolithic ancestors in their monumental memory places—and how we can use their secrets to train our own minds
In ancient, pre-literate cultures across the globe, tribal elders had encyclopedic memories. They could name all the animals and plants across a landscape, identify the stars in the sky, and recite the history of their people. Yet today, most of us struggle to memorize more than a short poem.
Using traditional Aboriginal Australian song lines as a starting point, Dr. Lynne Kelly has since identified the powerful memory technique used by our ancestors and indigenous people around the world. In turn, she has then discovered that this ancient memory technique is the secret purpose behind the great prehistoric monuments like Stonehenge, which have puzzled archaeologists for so long.
The henges across northern Europe, the elaborate stone houses of New Mexico, huge animal shapes in Peru, the statues of Easter Island—these all serve as the most effective memory system ever invented by humans. They allowed people in non-literate cultures to memorize the vast amounts of information they needed to survive. But how?
For the first time, Dr. Klly unlocks the secret of these monuments and their uses as "memory places" in her fascinating book. Additionally, The Memory Code also explains how we can use this ancient mnemonic technique to train our minds in the tradition of our forbearers.
360 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 7, 2017
259 people are currently reading
3288 people want to read
About the author
Lynne Kelly
22 books151 followersMy new book, The Knowledge Gene is to be published in Australia and NZ in 2024, and early in 2025 for North America. It is the culmination of all my work on knowledge systems and memory. It is the scientific evidence humans are all genetically encoded to use our uniquely human skills in music, art, spatial abilities, story and performance to store and convey knowledge - and have been doing so for at least 70,000 years! We all have so much more potential that we are using.
I did a PhD on the way indigenous cultures memorise vast amounts of information when they don't use writing. Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies was published by Cambridge University Press in 2015 and explains the implications for archaeology, offering new interpretations for the purpose of monuments around the world including Stonehenge, the statues of Easter Island and the huge images on the desert at Nasca.
The Memory Code (2016) presented this approach for the general reader. There was an overwhelming response to the book, asking how to implement the memory methods in contemporary life. That is the theme of Memory Craft.. Songlines: the power and promise is co-authored with Indigenous writers, Margo Neale and leads the First Knowledges series. Songlines for Younger Readers was published in 2023, leading the children's series. Both Songlines books have been shortlisted for major awards.
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and now live in rural Castlemaine. I started writing as a child and am the author of ten books for schools written during my teaching career, and a novel, Avenging Janie. I then started writing popular science, publishing three books, The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal, Crocodile: evolution's greatest survivor and Spiders: learning to love them.
I did a PhD on the way indigenous cultures memorise vast amounts of information when they don't use writing. Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies was published by Cambridge University Press in 2015 and explains the implications for archaeology, offering new interpretations for the purpose of monuments around the world including Stonehenge, the statues of Easter Island and the huge images on the desert at Nasca.
The Memory Code (2016) presented this approach for the general reader. There was an overwhelming response to the book, asking how to implement the memory methods in contemporary life. That is the theme of Memory Craft.. Songlines: the power and promise is co-authored with Indigenous writers, Margo Neale and leads the First Knowledges series. Songlines for Younger Readers was published in 2023, leading the children's series. Both Songlines books have been shortlisted for major awards.
I grew up in Melbourne, Australia, and now live in rural Castlemaine. I started writing as a child and am the author of ten books for schools written during my teaching career, and a novel, Avenging Janie. I then started writing popular science, publishing three books, The Skeptic's Guide to the Paranormal, Crocodile: evolution's greatest survivor and Spiders: learning to love them.
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November 10, 2020
5★
“Hunter-gatherer people may be less complex in terms of their hierarchies, cities and politics; it should never be assumed that they are less complex intellectually. . .
The Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2014 was awarded for . . . ‘their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.’. . .
Today we are just as capable of remembering vast stores of information as the elders of prehistory – we just need to bring to life our own memory spaces.”
I don’t think I can overstate the importance of the revelations of Lynne Kelly’s research. She had been studying Australian Aboriginal songlines and someone suggested reading up on oral literacy. She saw a connection between the way Aborigines remembered vast amounts of information while travelling through country with the way the ancient Greeks orators used to wander through buildings to help them memorise their speeches.
Then a visit to Stonehenge sealed the deal and she was off and running. Well, travelling, visiting, researching and questioning. When she finally understood how to ‘work the system’ (my words, not hers), she understood how difficult it was for the elders to explain it to her and realised how impossible she might find to explain it to us.
There’s an old saying, that you never really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. I think she’s done a remarkable job of explaining it, but there’s no way that I, myself, understand it well enough to do much except admire her discussion.
She discusses Stonehenge and other henges at length as well as the memory spaces people have created in various ways, through stones, buildings, natural environment, and many types of handheld devices.
I often say that as modern Australians raze the bush and put up suburbs, it’s as if someone went through your things and destroyed all your photos and diaries. When you look at a photo of Uncle Max with baby Mary on his knee at a family reunion, you will be reminded of all kinds of things that happened at the event that you probably thought you forgot. You might not even have remembered the occasion, had you not stumbled across the photo.
The memory code and memory spaces are not the same as that but a much more formalised, sophisticated version of concentrated study and work and ritual that has enabled civilisations all over the world to memorise long, complicated histories over countless generations and to pass that information down the line.
As Kelly points out, this is not about elders sitting around a campfire telling stories that kids pick up. Around the world – all the continents and islands – and for all time, going back to the cave painting and rock art days, communities have developed very specific, detailed lessons and rituals as memory aids to pass on their history orally.
“The elders have always had to work at acquiring knowledge. . . In all cases, knowledge was formally taught over many years through the levels of initiation within the tribe. In Australian Aboriginal cultures, it took an average 30-40 years for initiates to learn the full song cycles and dances, and to know all the sacred sites, objects and designs.”
That’s longer than today’s general schooling, where it’s possible to earn a PhD before you’re 30. Plus, this is information about everything, not only social, but all the sciences – agriculture, weather, and all natural phenomena. No major and minor subjects here. EVERYTHING!
I’ve only touched on the Australian side, but it’s the same around the world. The system of how to make and use memory spaces is well-explained (but you’re not my grandmother, and no, I couldn’t have explained it to her), but Kelly includes many photos of her own memory devices and a great discussion of how she’s developed her own memory from what she says was a poor base to start from.
I heard her interviewed about it, and was instantly intrigued. She does talk about the London taxi drivers who have more developed memories that most of us and about how the memory champions in competitions use the same systems.
For herself, she began looking around her room, ascribing various objects or positions (a window) with information. She began with the countries of the world. As she learned more about Brazil, for example, she added that information to her memory space. What’s more, she can recall that information now whenever she looks at that space.
She has expanded that to her morning walk with the dog and now has information stored everywhere!
“The indigenous peoples of this world walked their timelines, their stories of origin from the moment the first ancestors emerged from the earth or descended from the mountains.
. . . In my imagination, I can walk through every space on earth. In reality, I am walking my home, my garden and neighbourhood. Into those spaces I have encoded every country and all of time. Each time I walk one of the songlines I add a little more detail.”
She speaks of turning a corner and passing from one archaeological era to another, from the beginning of time. AND, she has detailed information about each assigned to different places along the way.
Specific rituals to be performed at prescribed times feature in all the cultures, and these are thought to remind people to be aware of various things that might happen. Harvest crops before bad weather sets in, for example. And there may be some threatened consequence if you don’t follow “the rules”.
And it was the knowledge-holders who were held in great esteem. I expect some became witch-doctors as well. Today, they would mostly be referred to as the Elders, but we use the term more loosely now.
I’ve not mentioned the African and Aboriginal woven baskets that are almost identical (our brains are attracted to certain patterns), the memory spaces of the Europeans, the Incas, the Mayan, and the intriguing Eastern Island statues.
I’ve also not mentioned the beauty and variety of handheld devices. Some are carvings, some are boards with beads, some are intricate bits and pieces that help you remember specific things. They look simple but they help you store enormous amounts of information. http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/2017/11/...
Fascinating stuff! Have a look at her whole website and see how smart “they” were and how simple-minded we’ve allowed ourselves to become. There's a lot there to enjoy.
http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/
And finally, I must apologise for all the things I may have misrepresented or misunderstood!
“Hunter-gatherer people may be less complex in terms of their hierarchies, cities and politics; it should never be assumed that they are less complex intellectually. . .
The Nobel Prize in Medicine for 2014 was awarded for . . . ‘their discoveries of cells that constitute a positioning system in the brain.’. . .
Today we are just as capable of remembering vast stores of information as the elders of prehistory – we just need to bring to life our own memory spaces.”
I don’t think I can overstate the importance of the revelations of Lynne Kelly’s research. She had been studying Australian Aboriginal songlines and someone suggested reading up on oral literacy. She saw a connection between the way Aborigines remembered vast amounts of information while travelling through country with the way the ancient Greeks orators used to wander through buildings to help them memorise their speeches.
Then a visit to Stonehenge sealed the deal and she was off and running. Well, travelling, visiting, researching and questioning. When she finally understood how to ‘work the system’ (my words, not hers), she understood how difficult it was for the elders to explain it to her and realised how impossible she might find to explain it to us.
There’s an old saying, that you never really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. I think she’s done a remarkable job of explaining it, but there’s no way that I, myself, understand it well enough to do much except admire her discussion.
She discusses Stonehenge and other henges at length as well as the memory spaces people have created in various ways, through stones, buildings, natural environment, and many types of handheld devices.
I often say that as modern Australians raze the bush and put up suburbs, it’s as if someone went through your things and destroyed all your photos and diaries. When you look at a photo of Uncle Max with baby Mary on his knee at a family reunion, you will be reminded of all kinds of things that happened at the event that you probably thought you forgot. You might not even have remembered the occasion, had you not stumbled across the photo.
The memory code and memory spaces are not the same as that but a much more formalised, sophisticated version of concentrated study and work and ritual that has enabled civilisations all over the world to memorise long, complicated histories over countless generations and to pass that information down the line.
As Kelly points out, this is not about elders sitting around a campfire telling stories that kids pick up. Around the world – all the continents and islands – and for all time, going back to the cave painting and rock art days, communities have developed very specific, detailed lessons and rituals as memory aids to pass on their history orally.
“The elders have always had to work at acquiring knowledge. . . In all cases, knowledge was formally taught over many years through the levels of initiation within the tribe. In Australian Aboriginal cultures, it took an average 30-40 years for initiates to learn the full song cycles and dances, and to know all the sacred sites, objects and designs.”
That’s longer than today’s general schooling, where it’s possible to earn a PhD before you’re 30. Plus, this is information about everything, not only social, but all the sciences – agriculture, weather, and all natural phenomena. No major and minor subjects here. EVERYTHING!
I’ve only touched on the Australian side, but it’s the same around the world. The system of how to make and use memory spaces is well-explained (but you’re not my grandmother, and no, I couldn’t have explained it to her), but Kelly includes many photos of her own memory devices and a great discussion of how she’s developed her own memory from what she says was a poor base to start from.
I heard her interviewed about it, and was instantly intrigued. She does talk about the London taxi drivers who have more developed memories that most of us and about how the memory champions in competitions use the same systems.
For herself, she began looking around her room, ascribing various objects or positions (a window) with information. She began with the countries of the world. As she learned more about Brazil, for example, she added that information to her memory space. What’s more, she can recall that information now whenever she looks at that space.
She has expanded that to her morning walk with the dog and now has information stored everywhere!
“The indigenous peoples of this world walked their timelines, their stories of origin from the moment the first ancestors emerged from the earth or descended from the mountains.
. . . In my imagination, I can walk through every space on earth. In reality, I am walking my home, my garden and neighbourhood. Into those spaces I have encoded every country and all of time. Each time I walk one of the songlines I add a little more detail.”
She speaks of turning a corner and passing from one archaeological era to another, from the beginning of time. AND, she has detailed information about each assigned to different places along the way.
Specific rituals to be performed at prescribed times feature in all the cultures, and these are thought to remind people to be aware of various things that might happen. Harvest crops before bad weather sets in, for example. And there may be some threatened consequence if you don’t follow “the rules”.
And it was the knowledge-holders who were held in great esteem. I expect some became witch-doctors as well. Today, they would mostly be referred to as the Elders, but we use the term more loosely now.
I’ve not mentioned the African and Aboriginal woven baskets that are almost identical (our brains are attracted to certain patterns), the memory spaces of the Europeans, the Incas, the Mayan, and the intriguing Eastern Island statues.
I’ve also not mentioned the beauty and variety of handheld devices. Some are carvings, some are boards with beads, some are intricate bits and pieces that help you remember specific things. They look simple but they help you store enormous amounts of information. http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/2017/11/...
Fascinating stuff! Have a look at her whole website and see how smart “they” were and how simple-minded we’ve allowed ourselves to become. There's a lot there to enjoy.
http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/
And finally, I must apologise for all the things I may have misrepresented or misunderstood!
January 14, 2020
Lynne Kelly wrote this fascinating book for general readers, and I was pleased and relieved to find its research base is solid and can be pursued in the book published from her PhD thesis Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies: Orality, Memory, and the Transmission of Culture.
Kelly started out studying the links between Australian Aboriginal elders’ knowledge of animal behaviour and indigenous stories when her thesis supervisor suggested she read Ong on Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word.
Orality, she discovered, was ‘about making knowledge memorable. It was about using song, story, dance and mythology to help retain vast numbers of stories of factual information when the culture had no recourse to writing’. The things Aboriginal elders remember for example, include information about animals and plants, AND ‘resource access and land management; laws and ethics; geology and astronomy; genealogies, to ensure they knew their rights and relatives; navigation, to ensure they could travel long distances when there were no roads or maps; ideas about where they had come from; and, of course, what they believed. Indigenous cultures memorised everything on which their survival – physically and culturally – depended’ (p. xii)
After six years’ research, examining oral cultures in several continents, she concluded that they consistently use memory devices to retain and transmit the vast amounts of knowledge essential for cultural survival.
Kelly examines a range of memory systems and devices used in different cultures. Some, like Indigenous Australian Songlines and Native American trails, are based on landscape features. Others include huge stone arrangements like Stonehenge; mounds like Newgrange in Ireland; art works and patterns used in various ways (eg on tools, in rock carvings); and devices as various as knotted string; memory boards studded with beads, stones shells and other objects; and the ‘medicine bags’ used by healers, in which each object represents a category of illness or potential treatment – memory aids in diagnosis.
Visiting Stonehenge early in her research, Kelly saw it could have been a memory space for peoples transitioning from hunting and gathering lifestyle to one of settled farming, and began to pursue the question of orality and memory. She became convinced that the great ditches around some prehistoric sites were in fact spaces for the performance of stories.
The elders who held the knowledge also held the power in their societies. She suggests that once the transition was complete, the settled communities would develop hierarchies in which the ‘Big Men’, or chiefs, would have acquired personal wealth. The knowledge specialists would serve these leaders, preserving key information such as genealogies and land rights, but no longer holding the most powerful positions, which were now linked to wealth and coercion (a familiar pattern, she notes) (p199).
Her book is rich with examples from Inuit, West African, Native American, Pacific Island , ancient Greek, Neolithic British and French cultures, and the different sorts of memory spaces and devices that they used, or still use.
I’ve been familiar with the idea of memory places and Songlines for a long time, but the information she gives on small decorated objects as memory devices is intriguingly new to me. Mobile cultures are limited in the number of objects they can carry, so it’s not surprising that the surfaces of everyday objects such as digging sticks or coolamons are used for symbolic cues to information (p49).
Kelly suggests that the abstract symbols used on many memory devices, from rock engravings to portable things like digging sticks or stones, are more important than the representational ones, and that the most restricted art is likely to include a high proportion of geometric design, while the representative art is more likely to be accessible publicly.
Knowledge of artworks, designs and patterns, she points out, is often gender specific. Restricted or gender specific knowledge would not be passed on to those who were not qualified to receive it, including ethnographers and anthropologists.
Her writing about Songlines is amongst the most comprehensive and accessible I have come across. She makes it clear that Songlines (or their equivalent in other oral cultures) act as an organisers of knowledge, each location acting as a subheading for the knowledge encoded in the ritual performed at that location, and that these subheadings cover all the knowledge of the culture.
Songlines are a way that Indigenous Australians organise information essential for physical and cultural survival.. ‘Songlines are sung narratives of the landscape, singing tracks that weave across the country and enable every significant place to be known. At each location, rituals are performed that enact the knowledge associated with that specific place. In this context, rituals are repeated acts and no more should be implied by that word’ – they are not necessarily religious. They can also be sung in imagined space as well as actual space. The Songlines include landscape features, and where to find water, sheltering places and sources of food and materials. There are few Australian elders left now who can sing their Songlines, but Kelly was able to talk to some elders who still had or understood the old knowledge.
Performed and restricted knowledge
Only fully initiated elders know the full versions of the stories that encode critical information, learning gradually as they move from level to level of knowledge. ‘Information that has to be maintained accurately is restricted so that it is only talked about in controlled situations. Secrecy is both a way of maintaining power and a method for ensuring accuracy of practical knowledge’ ie no chance of dissipation through incomplete training or understanding.
‘In order to share the knowledge, huge gatherings are usually part of the annual cycle for traditional societies’ and have multiple roles – trade, marriage arrangements, teaching and trading knowledge through ceremony. (10-12).
Kelly practiced many of the memory techniques she studied and found she could use them all to encode information from her own environment and everyday. They are now part of her life, and she shares her learning with schools to help children develop memory skills using some of the memory devices she explored in her research.
I’ve only touched on a small part of what she has to say.
Highly recommended for those interested in memory.
Kelly started out studying the links between Australian Aboriginal elders’ knowledge of animal behaviour and indigenous stories when her thesis supervisor suggested she read Ong on Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word.
Orality, she discovered, was ‘about making knowledge memorable. It was about using song, story, dance and mythology to help retain vast numbers of stories of factual information when the culture had no recourse to writing’. The things Aboriginal elders remember for example, include information about animals and plants, AND ‘resource access and land management; laws and ethics; geology and astronomy; genealogies, to ensure they knew their rights and relatives; navigation, to ensure they could travel long distances when there were no roads or maps; ideas about where they had come from; and, of course, what they believed. Indigenous cultures memorised everything on which their survival – physically and culturally – depended’ (p. xii)
After six years’ research, examining oral cultures in several continents, she concluded that they consistently use memory devices to retain and transmit the vast amounts of knowledge essential for cultural survival.
Kelly examines a range of memory systems and devices used in different cultures. Some, like Indigenous Australian Songlines and Native American trails, are based on landscape features. Others include huge stone arrangements like Stonehenge; mounds like Newgrange in Ireland; art works and patterns used in various ways (eg on tools, in rock carvings); and devices as various as knotted string; memory boards studded with beads, stones shells and other objects; and the ‘medicine bags’ used by healers, in which each object represents a category of illness or potential treatment – memory aids in diagnosis.
Visiting Stonehenge early in her research, Kelly saw it could have been a memory space for peoples transitioning from hunting and gathering lifestyle to one of settled farming, and began to pursue the question of orality and memory. She became convinced that the great ditches around some prehistoric sites were in fact spaces for the performance of stories.
The elders who held the knowledge also held the power in their societies. She suggests that once the transition was complete, the settled communities would develop hierarchies in which the ‘Big Men’, or chiefs, would have acquired personal wealth. The knowledge specialists would serve these leaders, preserving key information such as genealogies and land rights, but no longer holding the most powerful positions, which were now linked to wealth and coercion (a familiar pattern, she notes) (p199).
Her book is rich with examples from Inuit, West African, Native American, Pacific Island , ancient Greek, Neolithic British and French cultures, and the different sorts of memory spaces and devices that they used, or still use.
I’ve been familiar with the idea of memory places and Songlines for a long time, but the information she gives on small decorated objects as memory devices is intriguingly new to me. Mobile cultures are limited in the number of objects they can carry, so it’s not surprising that the surfaces of everyday objects such as digging sticks or coolamons are used for symbolic cues to information (p49).
Kelly suggests that the abstract symbols used on many memory devices, from rock engravings to portable things like digging sticks or stones, are more important than the representational ones, and that the most restricted art is likely to include a high proportion of geometric design, while the representative art is more likely to be accessible publicly.
Knowledge of artworks, designs and patterns, she points out, is often gender specific. Restricted or gender specific knowledge would not be passed on to those who were not qualified to receive it, including ethnographers and anthropologists.
Her writing about Songlines is amongst the most comprehensive and accessible I have come across. She makes it clear that Songlines (or their equivalent in other oral cultures) act as an organisers of knowledge, each location acting as a subheading for the knowledge encoded in the ritual performed at that location, and that these subheadings cover all the knowledge of the culture.
Songlines are a way that Indigenous Australians organise information essential for physical and cultural survival.. ‘Songlines are sung narratives of the landscape, singing tracks that weave across the country and enable every significant place to be known. At each location, rituals are performed that enact the knowledge associated with that specific place. In this context, rituals are repeated acts and no more should be implied by that word’ – they are not necessarily religious. They can also be sung in imagined space as well as actual space. The Songlines include landscape features, and where to find water, sheltering places and sources of food and materials. There are few Australian elders left now who can sing their Songlines, but Kelly was able to talk to some elders who still had or understood the old knowledge.
Performed and restricted knowledge
Only fully initiated elders know the full versions of the stories that encode critical information, learning gradually as they move from level to level of knowledge. ‘Information that has to be maintained accurately is restricted so that it is only talked about in controlled situations. Secrecy is both a way of maintaining power and a method for ensuring accuracy of practical knowledge’ ie no chance of dissipation through incomplete training or understanding.
‘In order to share the knowledge, huge gatherings are usually part of the annual cycle for traditional societies’ and have multiple roles – trade, marriage arrangements, teaching and trading knowledge through ceremony. (10-12).
Kelly practiced many of the memory techniques she studied and found she could use them all to encode information from her own environment and everyday. They are now part of her life, and she shares her learning with schools to help children develop memory skills using some of the memory devices she explored in her research.
I’ve only touched on a small part of what she has to say.
Highly recommended for those interested in memory.
August 2, 2017
Brilliant
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=memory+code...
Sunday 3 July 2016 Radio National interview
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/p...
http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/tag/the-...
http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/bibliogr...
Using a memory palace of sorts to explain pre-literary cultures using rituals and stone structures or images as universities and learning spaces. If you wonder about neolithic societies and Stonehenge this is a must read. Or want to improve your memory and recall 1000 times.
Naomi wrote a good review and I've copied this link, another ABC Radio talk, this one on Wednesday 22 June 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1...
Peter McLoughlin wrote a 5 star review and added a YouTube clip (72mins).
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOkZJ...
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=memory+code...
Sunday 3 July 2016 Radio National interview
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/p...
http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/tag/the-...
http://www.lynnekelly.com.au/bibliogr...
Using a memory palace of sorts to explain pre-literary cultures using rituals and stone structures or images as universities and learning spaces. If you wonder about neolithic societies and Stonehenge this is a must read. Or want to improve your memory and recall 1000 times.
Naomi wrote a good review and I've copied this link, another ABC Radio talk, this one on Wednesday 22 June 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1...
Peter McLoughlin wrote a 5 star review and added a YouTube clip (72mins).
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOkZJ...
July 3, 2016
I can't tell you how interesting and refreshing this interview was (http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2...) - it was like a bolt out of the blue and I immediately downloaded Lynne's book ' The Memory Code' from audible - beautifully read by Louise Silverson and listened to it almost all the way through. I had heard of the oral histories of the indigenous cultures of New Zealand and Australia but had never conceived any notion of how they achieved their incredible feats of memory. Lynne beautifully outlines some of these methods and more importantly, for me, helps me understand how country and songlines become so important to telling that story for indigenous groups - a concept I knew about but couldn't quite comprehend previously. It also occurs to me that so many 'libraries' were destroyed by our forebears inability to understand the impact of taking children away from their countries and cultures and displacing whole groups - how much knowledge have been lost because a generation wasn't taught these histories. We still ache as a culture when we think about the great libraries of Alexandria and the Serapeum being burnt and lost and the vast amount of knowledge that was lost as a result - even more so when one considers the hundreds of years (thousands in some cases) being lost by wilful ignorance and prejudice on the part of a culture that was arrogant enough to consider the indigenous cultures as inferior or uneducated. Thank you Lynne Kelly for a wonderful book written for the lay person like me to understand.
July 5, 2019
The author is an academic with an impressive knowledge of the natural world and the history of mankind. In undertaking her research the author has explored and taught herself various techniques used by ancient cultures to store in their memory their knowledge of the their flora, fauna and legends. In this book she has provided the argument that many of the monuments of prehistory were used as memory aids to help the cultures to pass down knowledge through oral means only.
Her arguments are believable, her knowledge impressive and she provides a readable book on a fascinating topic.
Her arguments are believable, her knowledge impressive and she provides a readable book on a fascinating topic.
February 6, 2017
I found this book very interesting, though heavy on anthropology and architecture. It is clearly well researched and there are a lot of examples and details of cultures around the world and how they used their architecture and portable devices as "memory spaces," in which they "encoded" knowledge in ways that it could be more easily recalled, essentially turning their architecture into visual mnemonics.
The part I personally found the most interesting was the first third or so of the book, which covers what and why indigenous, preliterate cultures would need to remember. It gave me a whole new appreciation for these aboriginal cultures, which are often seen as inferior due to their lack of written language, when they were/are just as intelligent as we are, they just had to find different ways to keep their knowledge safe and accessible.
This is no "12 steps to a better memory," and there's no easy formula presented for how to memorize more effectively (nor is there any real discussion of neuroscience). But I think I got a good sense for how this "encoding" can work, and the author's description of her own "memory spaces" made me believe it. It emphasizes the spatial component of learning, which makes a lot of sense anyway, so I totally buy her theory that Stonehenge and other famous monuments were memory spaces (in addition to other things).
After that, there are a lot of architectural examples and details given of different cultures around the world -- it got a bit repetitive to me after a while, not that they weren't necessary details to support the thesis, it's just that architecture doesn't hold my interest like anthropology does. Still, very interesting, and definitely recommended to anyone who has an interest in either of those areas of study (or world history in general).
(In compliance with FTC guidelines, I disclose that I received this book for free through GoodReads' First Reads. I was not required to write a positive review.)
The part I personally found the most interesting was the first third or so of the book, which covers what and why indigenous, preliterate cultures would need to remember. It gave me a whole new appreciation for these aboriginal cultures, which are often seen as inferior due to their lack of written language, when they were/are just as intelligent as we are, they just had to find different ways to keep their knowledge safe and accessible.
This is no "12 steps to a better memory," and there's no easy formula presented for how to memorize more effectively (nor is there any real discussion of neuroscience). But I think I got a good sense for how this "encoding" can work, and the author's description of her own "memory spaces" made me believe it. It emphasizes the spatial component of learning, which makes a lot of sense anyway, so I totally buy her theory that Stonehenge and other famous monuments were memory spaces (in addition to other things).
After that, there are a lot of architectural examples and details given of different cultures around the world -- it got a bit repetitive to me after a while, not that they weren't necessary details to support the thesis, it's just that architecture doesn't hold my interest like anthropology does. Still, very interesting, and definitely recommended to anyone who has an interest in either of those areas of study (or world history in general).
(In compliance with FTC guidelines, I disclose that I received this book for free through GoodReads' First Reads. I was not required to write a positive review.)
September 10, 2019
well I’m convinced
September 27, 2022
I have had this book recommended to me over time by some awesome folks, and I've been so reluctant because it looked a bit like a) a 'grand theory' book and b) a book by a Western scientist, based on Indigenous knowledge, which is then positioned as something to improve Western lives. Thankfully, however, Kelly is well-aware of at least the former trap, and while the second is not without problems, they are ones common to the entire field.
Kelly's introduction cleverly disarms by candidly discussing the improbability of a PhD thesis unlocking the secrets of Stonehenge. This is not she to say she doesn't believe her own theory, but she carefully takes us through how it took leading experts in the field taking her seriously to let her take herself seriously.
And it isn't really a grand theory here, although there is a good dose of the every-tool-a-hammer thing. Kelly sees the ways in which ceremony, sites, landscapes and objects contribute to preservation of knowledge through memories transmitted generationally. Once she has seen how this functions to allow stupendous memory recall, she sees it everywhere, and that is the only purpose in view in the book.
Kelly is clearly awestruck at the capacities of Aboriginal communities, and the book is a celebration of achievement. It does fight for increased respect for Indigenous knowledge and the accuracy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander historical knowledge. She names and credits those within Indigenous communities who inform her work. However this is explicitly Western science - Cicero and all - into which Kelly has interpreted Indigenous practice. It is far more respectful that "release the wisdom of the elders" crap on New Age shelves, but, like all Western scholarship based on contemporary Indigenous knowledges, this must, and does, sit uncomfortably as settler-splaining.
So those concerns aside, I had a lot of fun with this book, and I think for those of us educated in a Western tradition, it presents a very relatable set of explanations for how cultural, cognitive and physical landscapes are amalgamated into a single landscape, enabling enormous preservation of knowledge over thousands of years.
Kelly describes this mainly as memory techniques - putting this into the same bracket as the memory palace techniques used by competitors attempting 'feats of memory' like memorising the order of an entire deck of cards. But Kelly rightly points out that contemporary Westerners use these techniques for fairly specific and trivial purposes, whereas non-literate societies used them to create vast worlds of connected knowledge - combining stories, physical spaces, songs, mental maps, mnemonics and dances to accurately recall the right detail at the right moment.
After a chapter which Kelly cheerfully tells us is there to make sure we understand the immensity of indigenous knowledges (which is really well done), Kelly moves on to describe the various memory techniques of various indigenous societies, contemporary (especially Aboriginal) and historic (such as the Maya). From there we whip around the world, travelling from Stonehenge to broader Britain to the Americas to the Pacific, with dozens of sites, cultures and objects discussed. I did find this started to wear slightly, but I was reinvigorated to visit ALL THE ANCIENT SITES (AGAIN in many cases) and test the theories for myself.
I was absolutely bewitched, in particular, by Kelly putting the ditches at the centre (heh) of Standing Stones. I'm not going to spoil her theory - I really think this book is worth reading for anyone interested enough to wonder - but her theories are interesting and will make you think differently. She comments on everything from the way that knowledge restrictions work to protect accuracy. I did get frustrated with her characterisations of knowledge restrictions as power structures, which I don't think is analogous too wealth accumulation.
But I do think my biggest take-home is starting to understand how different non-literate societies might be - including how they might be much more sustainable. Literacy is a recent human phenomenon, and universal literacy even more so. Kelly paints a picture of a world in which our cognitive worlds are inseparable from our environment and our community. Where everywhere we look, what we smell, what we touch, is alive with story and connection. That in the end, is a much more seductive idea than remembering where I put my coffee mug.
Kelly's introduction cleverly disarms by candidly discussing the improbability of a PhD thesis unlocking the secrets of Stonehenge. This is not she to say she doesn't believe her own theory, but she carefully takes us through how it took leading experts in the field taking her seriously to let her take herself seriously.
And it isn't really a grand theory here, although there is a good dose of the every-tool-a-hammer thing. Kelly sees the ways in which ceremony, sites, landscapes and objects contribute to preservation of knowledge through memories transmitted generationally. Once she has seen how this functions to allow stupendous memory recall, she sees it everywhere, and that is the only purpose in view in the book.
Kelly is clearly awestruck at the capacities of Aboriginal communities, and the book is a celebration of achievement. It does fight for increased respect for Indigenous knowledge and the accuracy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander historical knowledge. She names and credits those within Indigenous communities who inform her work. However this is explicitly Western science - Cicero and all - into which Kelly has interpreted Indigenous practice. It is far more respectful that "release the wisdom of the elders" crap on New Age shelves, but, like all Western scholarship based on contemporary Indigenous knowledges, this must, and does, sit uncomfortably as settler-splaining.
So those concerns aside, I had a lot of fun with this book, and I think for those of us educated in a Western tradition, it presents a very relatable set of explanations for how cultural, cognitive and physical landscapes are amalgamated into a single landscape, enabling enormous preservation of knowledge over thousands of years.
Kelly describes this mainly as memory techniques - putting this into the same bracket as the memory palace techniques used by competitors attempting 'feats of memory' like memorising the order of an entire deck of cards. But Kelly rightly points out that contemporary Westerners use these techniques for fairly specific and trivial purposes, whereas non-literate societies used them to create vast worlds of connected knowledge - combining stories, physical spaces, songs, mental maps, mnemonics and dances to accurately recall the right detail at the right moment.
After a chapter which Kelly cheerfully tells us is there to make sure we understand the immensity of indigenous knowledges (which is really well done), Kelly moves on to describe the various memory techniques of various indigenous societies, contemporary (especially Aboriginal) and historic (such as the Maya). From there we whip around the world, travelling from Stonehenge to broader Britain to the Americas to the Pacific, with dozens of sites, cultures and objects discussed. I did find this started to wear slightly, but I was reinvigorated to visit ALL THE ANCIENT SITES (AGAIN in many cases) and test the theories for myself.
I was absolutely bewitched, in particular, by Kelly putting the ditches at the centre (heh) of Standing Stones. I'm not going to spoil her theory - I really think this book is worth reading for anyone interested enough to wonder - but her theories are interesting and will make you think differently. She comments on everything from the way that knowledge restrictions work to protect accuracy. I did get frustrated with her characterisations of knowledge restrictions as power structures, which I don't think is analogous too wealth accumulation.
But I do think my biggest take-home is starting to understand how different non-literate societies might be - including how they might be much more sustainable. Literacy is a recent human phenomenon, and universal literacy even more so. Kelly paints a picture of a world in which our cognitive worlds are inseparable from our environment and our community. Where everywhere we look, what we smell, what we touch, is alive with story and connection. That in the end, is a much more seductive idea than remembering where I put my coffee mug.
June 20, 2017
This is not the kind of book that I usually read - I usually read narrative non fiction and this is pure non-fiction. I chose to read The Memory Code because, years ago, I met the author very briefly and I just liked her so much that I wanted to know what she had been doing. And my goodness I'm delighted that I was so curious. It is wonderful to read a book that totally re-conceptualises your understanding of human history. As a barely educated person I had believed that pre-literate people were somehow 'primitive' - as if their thinking was somehow more 'limited than ours. It is one of the great tragedies of history that Westerner explorers looked at non literature societies and concluded that because they didn't read and write they were somehow 'savages.' One wishes we could go back in time and put Lynne's book into the hands of some of the explorers and misguided missionaries. What great loss to us all (and our education systems) lay in that misunderstanding. But Lynne has turned that all around in this book as she demonstrates again and again (lest there be any doubt) that non literate cultures across the globe had encyclopaedic memories - trained using a diverse range of methods that she demonstrates effectively in this compelling research.
Sadly for this reader, a lot of her details about particular world cultures will be instantly forgotten as I don't have those very memory methods in place to retain all the factual information. But I'm very much looking forward to finding fun ways of trying out these learning and memory methods for myself. (The idea of singing the countries in geographic order around Africa to the tune of 'Meet me in St Louis' is a lyric writing exercise that I'm definitely going to try out) And I'm also looking forward to seeing if I can create a memory board for myself for some study I have to do later in the year. Also as I run regularly around Battersea Park I may spend a day trying to work out how I could turn my route into memory space that would give me a better grasp of the time line of history.
But what I most enjoyed about this book was spending virtual time with the author. She is just so gracious. I love the way that she said 'I find the argument of XX compelling but...' before she proceeds to prove once and for all that the research mentioned is totally misguided. ha ha. Despite her brilliance, there isn't a shred of ego or arrogance in this writer and she is so fantastically curious, educated and passionate that her love of life and respect for everyone and everything shines through. (as well as 15 other books - she has also written books about spiders) I hope she is given awards for this study. She deserves more than just a doctorate. Wonderful. Thank you Lynne Kelly.
Sadly for this reader, a lot of her details about particular world cultures will be instantly forgotten as I don't have those very memory methods in place to retain all the factual information. But I'm very much looking forward to finding fun ways of trying out these learning and memory methods for myself. (The idea of singing the countries in geographic order around Africa to the tune of 'Meet me in St Louis' is a lyric writing exercise that I'm definitely going to try out) And I'm also looking forward to seeing if I can create a memory board for myself for some study I have to do later in the year. Also as I run regularly around Battersea Park I may spend a day trying to work out how I could turn my route into memory space that would give me a better grasp of the time line of history.
But what I most enjoyed about this book was spending virtual time with the author. She is just so gracious. I love the way that she said 'I find the argument of XX compelling but...' before she proceeds to prove once and for all that the research mentioned is totally misguided. ha ha. Despite her brilliance, there isn't a shred of ego or arrogance in this writer and she is so fantastically curious, educated and passionate that her love of life and respect for everyone and everything shines through. (as well as 15 other books - she has also written books about spiders) I hope she is given awards for this study. She deserves more than just a doctorate. Wonderful. Thank you Lynne Kelly.
December 13, 2023
This is such a fascinating book, ranging across time and cultures to dive into the traditional practices which preserved essential knowledge in non-literate societies. This and the companion book ‘Memory Craft’ have been my constant companions over the last few months as I attempt to learn the techniques which I hope will keep me mentally functional as I move into what my mother called ‘OLD old age’ in her last professional paper as an economist before finally retiring at 85. Hoping to avoid the sad decline she experienced in her final years.
June 8, 2017
I read this book primarily because of its discussion about the use of memory techniques. I enjoyed these parts of the book, but it had much more anthropology than I had expected. It's not that it isn't well researched and written, but it just wasn't easy to maintain interest in much of the discussion. It would be great if a second book focusing only on the memory techniques were available for those with less interest in the anthropological aspects of the book.
March 11, 2020
In this book Lynne Kelly describes how non-literal cultures preserved knowledge a couple of thousand years ago. The most efficient technique is based on the system of loci, which is also known as memory palace or memory journey. By linking facts to geographical places and real objects it becomes possible to recall vast amount of knowledge word by word. Not easy of course, the training could easily take decades, but it's also no magic and with dances, songs and myths it was made even more memorable.
Lynne Kelly argues that one of the purpose of rituals and religious places was to strengthen the memory. People would stop at these places, perform dances or recite verses and then move on. When they started to settle down it was required to use something else or the knowledge would be gone. For this reason people built stone monuments like Stonehenge or the statues on the Easter Island. In addition they created portable objects from different material and in different sizes.
This was a truly fascinating book and I was amazed that the author tried the methods herself to prove her theory. That's what I call real dedication. I was even inspired to create my own "Lukasa" (memory board) and started to memorize poems.
Actual memory techniques make up only a minor part of the book. If this is why you came here then I recommend to visit Lynne Kelly's homepage instead and read about her memory experiments.
The large amount of material about archaeology took me a bit by surprise and it became a tad repetitive towards the end. Nevertheless it provided new insights into that age and I liked the following quote from Geraldine and Matthew Stout:
So true.
I can highly recommend the book if you are interested in how oral cultures preserved their knowledge and what kind of transformation took place when the people settled down. The real fun begins when you accept the challenge and try to memorize something yourself: the country of the worlds, facts about family and friends, or whole poems. It's a new experience that will enrich your life forever.
Lynne Kelly argues that one of the purpose of rituals and religious places was to strengthen the memory. People would stop at these places, perform dances or recite verses and then move on. When they started to settle down it was required to use something else or the knowledge would be gone. For this reason people built stone monuments like Stonehenge or the statues on the Easter Island. In addition they created portable objects from different material and in different sizes.
This was a truly fascinating book and I was amazed that the author tried the methods herself to prove her theory. That's what I call real dedication. I was even inspired to create my own "Lukasa" (memory board) and started to memorize poems.
Actual memory techniques make up only a minor part of the book. If this is why you came here then I recommend to visit Lynne Kelly's homepage instead and read about her memory experiments.
The large amount of material about archaeology took me a bit by surprise and it became a tad repetitive towards the end. Nevertheless it provided new insights into that age and I liked the following quote from Geraldine and Matthew Stout:
Interpretations come in cycles, which often reflect the cultural background of the period: feminism, Freudianism, materialsm, etc. Current interpretations, therefore, have more to do with the time we live in than with the Neolithic.
So true.
I can highly recommend the book if you are interested in how oral cultures preserved their knowledge and what kind of transformation took place when the people settled down. The real fun begins when you accept the challenge and try to memorize something yourself: the country of the worlds, facts about family and friends, or whole poems. It's a new experience that will enrich your life forever.
September 14, 2016
This is the first book i have read on archaeology and ancient cultures and i found it fascinating. Lynne did a great job of explaining her theory in easy language and in a interesting way.
She takes you through her own personal journey of connecting the dots to develop what seems like a sound theory (for me to judge would be unreliable). This also makes the book much easier to read and understand as she experiments with memory techniques giving wonderful accounts which you can then see apply to how the ancient cultures would have used there myths, songs, the night sky, landscapes etc.
I plan to try my own memory experiments after reading about the emotional and personal attachments you get to the stories you create which was illustrated beautifully by Lynne in i think chapter 3 called 'A Journey through time'.
At times i found some of the chapters a bit heavy in detail like the Stonehenge but Lynne was providing a detailed argument for her theory so i understand why this was the case.
Overall fascinating read, you will learn about different indigenous groups from the Inca's, to the Maori's to the neolithic people of Brittany. Prepare for your mind to be exposed to a new dimension of thinking. Congratulations Lynne and i look forward to seeing how your theory is judged.
She takes you through her own personal journey of connecting the dots to develop what seems like a sound theory (for me to judge would be unreliable). This also makes the book much easier to read and understand as she experiments with memory techniques giving wonderful accounts which you can then see apply to how the ancient cultures would have used there myths, songs, the night sky, landscapes etc.
I plan to try my own memory experiments after reading about the emotional and personal attachments you get to the stories you create which was illustrated beautifully by Lynne in i think chapter 3 called 'A Journey through time'.
At times i found some of the chapters a bit heavy in detail like the Stonehenge but Lynne was providing a detailed argument for her theory so i understand why this was the case.
Overall fascinating read, you will learn about different indigenous groups from the Inca's, to the Maori's to the neolithic people of Brittany. Prepare for your mind to be exposed to a new dimension of thinking. Congratulations Lynne and i look forward to seeing how your theory is judged.
January 31, 2018
Resulta que el palacio de la memoria es mucho más que un truco para recordar discursos. Tras terminar el libro creo que me quedó una idea bien clara de qué realmente significa usar lugares y canciones como técnica recordar, más allá de "imaginar un palacio y llenarlo con cosas". Creo que de a poco iré probando a ver si finalmente resulta armar ese tipo de espacios.
Las teorías sobre cómo las líneas de Naca, los moai y Stonehenge son espacios de memoria es muy fascinante, y la autora explica bien su razonamiento. En general es interesante de que los ritos y la religión nacieron en realidad como técnicas para recordar estrategias de supervivencia y tradiciones culturales.
Las teorías sobre cómo las líneas de Naca, los moai y Stonehenge son espacios de memoria es muy fascinante, y la autora explica bien su razonamiento. En general es interesante de que los ritos y la religión nacieron en realidad como técnicas para recordar estrategias de supervivencia y tradiciones culturales.
March 14, 2017
As a Polynesian and a Christian I found the concepts of cultural and religious practices as codes of practical knowledge incredibly insightful. However ironically I was sceptical at how much of what she researched can be attributed to memory coding. Is it possible that aesthetics may have been what done cultures enjoyed. In saying that, I am grateful for Lynnes efforts of research and ability to communicate her findings in these limited pages. I have been encouraged to exercise a system of memory coding.
April 15, 2019
I've been living in Australia for almost 20 years now and read quite a lot about Aboriginal culture and history, but this book has given me a particular in-depth insight into the former. Kelly writes with clairity and precision, and remarkable respect, about some of the world's most ancient cultures. Her descriptions of how she implemented old ways of remembering in her own life, and how much this experiment enhanced her present were also exciting. This is an original, deep and at the same time very readable book.
August 19, 2016
Great book, answers the question: What did nerds do before there were books, or even writing?
January 5, 2017
I particularly enjoyed reading how the author experienced the ancient memory techniques in her own life.
April 6, 2021
Fascinating thesis of the use of memory by indigenous peoples in prehistory with lots of examples and evidence to show a strong pattern of commonality.
November 6, 2024
Lynne Kelly delves into the archaeological history of several groups around the world who built structures that defy explanation (beyond alien intervention), especially when findings don't support a full explanation that encompasses burial sites, or temples. Stonehenge is the focus, but through her understanding of indigenous Australian songlines, she uses this concept to apply to the unexplained or disputed aspect of many of these structures, including Easter Island's moai statues.
Most of the writing is engaging and interesting, especially when archaeological history is explored. The book separates each group of people into chapters, looking at them separately, and then applying her theory of Memory Spaces.
This theory is based on Australian Aboriginal songlines, where they memorise their history, as well as many other aspects of their culture, through songs, chants, recitals, etc. using landscape locations. Kelly also gives us an example of her use of memory by going around her neighbourhood and assigning certain locations, like letterboxes, bushes, etc., as moments in time. As she walks her dog each day, she remembers each location and it's assigned history. It's actually a very convincing way to memorise in general.
I think Kelly is right to try to apply it to many monolithic structures like Stonehenge or the rooms of Skara Brae, but I also think she attempts to attach it a bit too much in examples like the moai statues and the stone rows at Carnac. She often does a historical dive and then at the end says "...perfect for a memory location." There are two instances of this on one page (178, Newgrange and the Passage Cairns of Ireland):
Part of the problem, of course, is that it's unprovable, which is why it's all conjecture. And also, i don't feel that her own example of neighborhood memory locations is a good example to support her case: She specifically assigns memory to an already built location (someone else's letterbox), but many of the cairns and statures were specifically built for a purpose. Something she didn't really explain, was whether the raised stones represented a mythological creature, a far away location, in the same way that pages in a picture book represent a story - this would make sense, if that were the case (as in, the story teller used the face of a stone as a representation, a surface for people to imagine things on). Why raise a massive stone if you can assign any random part of your environment as a memory location, the same way aboriginal Australians do? I support her theory that all these singular locations with monolithic stones raised and organised were meeting places, and as such probably did encompass the transference of knowledge to others. By by the time I got to Mexico and South America cultures I started losing interest, because she wasn't focussing enough on how her theory related specifically to these cultures, or she was coming at it in a roundabout way.
I think the way she structured her ideas is a bit of a flaw in the book, because she starts with introducing the reader to the culture with an archaeology based history, which can be quite interesting, but I wonder if it would have been better to start with an example of why her ideas fit into and explain what the archaeologists can't explain or disagree on, and then give us a history relating to those aspects so that when it comes forward to the present time you can see how it all fits in. This would have been more convincing, because there's a lot that does fit into her ideas.
3.5 stars
Most of the writing is engaging and interesting, especially when archaeological history is explored. The book separates each group of people into chapters, looking at them separately, and then applying her theory of Memory Spaces.
This theory is based on Australian Aboriginal songlines, where they memorise their history, as well as many other aspects of their culture, through songs, chants, recitals, etc. using landscape locations. Kelly also gives us an example of her use of memory by going around her neighbourhood and assigning certain locations, like letterboxes, bushes, etc., as moments in time. As she walks her dog each day, she remembers each location and it's assigned history. It's actually a very convincing way to memorise in general.
I think Kelly is right to try to apply it to many monolithic structures like Stonehenge or the rooms of Skara Brae, but I also think she attempts to attach it a bit too much in examples like the moai statues and the stone rows at Carnac. She often does a historical dive and then at the end says "...perfect for a memory location." There are two instances of this on one page (178, Newgrange and the Passage Cairns of Ireland):
Such ordered structures are perfectly suited to memory locations... [two paragraphs later] The large stones were separated by distances averaging about eight metres, perfect for a set of memory locations.
Part of the problem, of course, is that it's unprovable, which is why it's all conjecture. And also, i don't feel that her own example of neighborhood memory locations is a good example to support her case: She specifically assigns memory to an already built location (someone else's letterbox), but many of the cairns and statures were specifically built for a purpose. Something she didn't really explain, was whether the raised stones represented a mythological creature, a far away location, in the same way that pages in a picture book represent a story - this would make sense, if that were the case (as in, the story teller used the face of a stone as a representation, a surface for people to imagine things on). Why raise a massive stone if you can assign any random part of your environment as a memory location, the same way aboriginal Australians do? I support her theory that all these singular locations with monolithic stones raised and organised were meeting places, and as such probably did encompass the transference of knowledge to others. By by the time I got to Mexico and South America cultures I started losing interest, because she wasn't focussing enough on how her theory related specifically to these cultures, or she was coming at it in a roundabout way.
I think the way she structured her ideas is a bit of a flaw in the book, because she starts with introducing the reader to the culture with an archaeology based history, which can be quite interesting, but I wonder if it would have been better to start with an example of why her ideas fit into and explain what the archaeologists can't explain or disagree on, and then give us a history relating to those aspects so that when it comes forward to the present time you can see how it all fits in. This would have been more convincing, because there's a lot that does fit into her ideas.
3.5 stars
February 27, 2022
After reading this book, I wonder if we nowadays take for granted fast access to knowledge? It is always there to be grasped, and there is no need to memorize and internalize it. It feels so. But as Lynne Kelly points out in the book, keeping the shared knowledge alive about the environment and the history of the people has not always been so straightforward. There had to be memory techniques and devices to store the vital information to be passed on to the next generations. Such techniques had highly specialized people who devoted their lives to be the keepers of the oral knowledge of the tribes. But it wasn't only simple tricks that the pre-literate cultures used. They shaped their landscapes with massive constructions, especially after they stopped being nomadic. Or so Lynne Kelly proposes. This book is composed of her Ph.D. thesis made more reader-friendly. I think I'm convinced when she suggests that Stonehenge or other such sites might have been used in memory rituals. It just clicks how she lays down her argumentation of places and acts previously dismissed as having an astronomical or religious purpose.
I have a master's in Comparative Religion, having studied the world and pre-literate culture religions; hand waving and simply stating something to be a religious ritual has always bothered me. It really doesn't explain a lot. It just puts some act into a neat little box, so it doesn't have to be understood. There is always a need and meaning behind such complex behavior because rituals usually aren't free. They take time and resources to perform. Keeping the memories alive or preparing the group to hunt the great beast by ritualistically mimicking the behavior of the prey and passing on information makes more sense. Yet, that said, I would still propose we could see them as religious rituals, as a line between religion and knowledge isn't as strict as it might be considered now. The gods and spirits were real, and their behavior and acts were part of everyday life. Important information about the cosmos, creation, and cultural norms were passed on through such stories. Still, the functionality of memory keeping stays. There is no need for an either-or situation. Regarding the sites discussed in the book being part of monitoring the solar or lunar cycles, I leave you to read Lynne Kelly's argumentation on that.
As you may have picked up, I found the book highly engaging. Lynne Kelly offers us a new way of seeing our past and the monuments and artifacts left behind. She backs up her claims by taking us on a journey around the world, arguing through academic studies and archeology, and by her personal experience using the memory spaces and Khipus. Her personal stories made the book enjoyable and more relatable. I read in awe how she fitted the world and its history to her neighborhood and kept it alive while walking her dog, or how she memorized influential figures and other details through ancient techniques. She wrote how memorizing shaped her understanding of the world and made everything she stored more personal. Sharing her experience made the read more personal and meaningful for me. It helped me see the world from a new perspective and understand how and why pre-literate cultures used such memory devices. Lynne Kelly is a superb writer. I had a similar awe experience when I read Spiders: Learning to Love Them.
Books like this are why I love reading non-fiction. They make me fall in love with our world and see how wonderful and bizarre we humans can be. Not only that, the book made me question not to take for granted the explanations we give to our past. We really cannot know. We can speculate. And often enough, experimental archeology has shown that we get things wrong.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day <3
I have a master's in Comparative Religion, having studied the world and pre-literate culture religions; hand waving and simply stating something to be a religious ritual has always bothered me. It really doesn't explain a lot. It just puts some act into a neat little box, so it doesn't have to be understood. There is always a need and meaning behind such complex behavior because rituals usually aren't free. They take time and resources to perform. Keeping the memories alive or preparing the group to hunt the great beast by ritualistically mimicking the behavior of the prey and passing on information makes more sense. Yet, that said, I would still propose we could see them as religious rituals, as a line between religion and knowledge isn't as strict as it might be considered now. The gods and spirits were real, and their behavior and acts were part of everyday life. Important information about the cosmos, creation, and cultural norms were passed on through such stories. Still, the functionality of memory keeping stays. There is no need for an either-or situation. Regarding the sites discussed in the book being part of monitoring the solar or lunar cycles, I leave you to read Lynne Kelly's argumentation on that.
As you may have picked up, I found the book highly engaging. Lynne Kelly offers us a new way of seeing our past and the monuments and artifacts left behind. She backs up her claims by taking us on a journey around the world, arguing through academic studies and archeology, and by her personal experience using the memory spaces and Khipus. Her personal stories made the book enjoyable and more relatable. I read in awe how she fitted the world and its history to her neighborhood and kept it alive while walking her dog, or how she memorized influential figures and other details through ancient techniques. She wrote how memorizing shaped her understanding of the world and made everything she stored more personal. Sharing her experience made the read more personal and meaningful for me. It helped me see the world from a new perspective and understand how and why pre-literate cultures used such memory devices. Lynne Kelly is a superb writer. I had a similar awe experience when I read Spiders: Learning to Love Them.
Books like this are why I love reading non-fiction. They make me fall in love with our world and see how wonderful and bizarre we humans can be. Not only that, the book made me question not to take for granted the explanations we give to our past. We really cannot know. We can speculate. And often enough, experimental archeology has shown that we get things wrong.
Thank you for reading and have a wonderful day <3
March 10, 2020
This is the most astonishing book I've read in many years. The breadth and complexity of memory feats attributed to non-literate peoples from neolithic to the present day as revealed by Dr. Kelly is truly breathtaking. Even if her conclusions should someday be shown to have been in error (which seems unlikely) she is to be applauded for poking gigantic holes in scholarly arrogance that had persisted in imposing preconceived interpretations on the artifacts of ancient cultures, based on prevailing opinions that are often distorted by the beliefs, concepts and practices of our own day — aptly illustrated by one skeptic's remark "What on earth would they need no memorize anyway?" It's clear from the outset that Dr. Kelly's interpretation of what she observed entirely flew in the face of established archaeological teachings.
The book also tells a fascinating story of Kelly's journey of discovery. Like Columbus, she had set out to find one thing and discovered something else altogether. In the course of her exploration, she found it necessary to educate herself in completely unfamiliar fields and was always at risk of being regarded as a meddling amateur. But she insisted on going where the evidence led her, rigorously testing every hypothesis and casting her eye abroad in search of corroborating data: the mark of a true scientist.
The essential insight she posits is simply that Indigenous cultures memorized everything on which their survival — physically and culturally — depended. In order to validate that notion, she sets out to explore — and demonstrate — how any such memory system could have worked. To skeptics I would say: pick up this book and just read the preface; you will not be able to put the rest of it down.
The book also tells a fascinating story of Kelly's journey of discovery. Like Columbus, she had set out to find one thing and discovered something else altogether. In the course of her exploration, she found it necessary to educate herself in completely unfamiliar fields and was always at risk of being regarded as a meddling amateur. But she insisted on going where the evidence led her, rigorously testing every hypothesis and casting her eye abroad in search of corroborating data: the mark of a true scientist.
The essential insight she posits is simply that Indigenous cultures memorized everything on which their survival — physically and culturally — depended. In order to validate that notion, she sets out to explore — and demonstrate — how any such memory system could have worked. To skeptics I would say: pick up this book and just read the preface; you will not be able to put the rest of it down.
September 9, 2024
Literally can’t recommend enough. !!!!
Sometimes got a bit boring to read, but I literally can’t stress what an incredible resource for life this text is.
Teaches how to apply memory techniques like songlines, memory palaces, mneumonics, and so much more.
I now use techniques learnt in this book every single day, and am starting to get the swing of it. Trust me they work - I really thought they wouldn’t, or they’d be more effort to establish than they’re worth.
I wish I’d read or listened to this book when I was like 10 years old. I wish I knew this stuff sooner! The epitome of work/study smarter not harder. With these techniques it literally is fun and like zero effort to memorise and better understand and connect SO MANY things.
As a tutor I’ve also taken to teaching my students with these methods (e.g. putting ideas from science class in a material memory palace/walk at home) - and it sticks. Especially for students who don’t love reading/writing or other classic slow and rote techniques.
Amazing. Eye-opening. Important.
*Ironic to have a -book- describing how reading long texts and books are one of the least effective ways to communicate knowledge (maybe get as an audiobook?), but really. Amazing content.
Sometimes got a bit boring to read, but I literally can’t stress what an incredible resource for life this text is.
Teaches how to apply memory techniques like songlines, memory palaces, mneumonics, and so much more.
I now use techniques learnt in this book every single day, and am starting to get the swing of it. Trust me they work - I really thought they wouldn’t, or they’d be more effort to establish than they’re worth.
I wish I’d read or listened to this book when I was like 10 years old. I wish I knew this stuff sooner! The epitome of work/study smarter not harder. With these techniques it literally is fun and like zero effort to memorise and better understand and connect SO MANY things.
As a tutor I’ve also taken to teaching my students with these methods (e.g. putting ideas from science class in a material memory palace/walk at home) - and it sticks. Especially for students who don’t love reading/writing or other classic slow and rote techniques.
Amazing. Eye-opening. Important.
*Ironic to have a -book- describing how reading long texts and books are one of the least effective ways to communicate knowledge (maybe get as an audiobook?), but really. Amazing content.
September 18, 2022
Absolutely incredible! This is a must read.
Kelly opens with a fascinating look at indigenous knowledge and how they could remember so much. She explores the methods that can be used such as memory spaces and song lines, and how they can be used in the modern world. (On a side note I will definitely look into her other book 'Memory Craft' to put them into practice myself!) I found how mythology can play into it really interesting, and offered me a different way to view it.
She goes on to explore her completely original thesis, that Neolithic monumental sites around the world were a memory system that allowed non-literate peoples to memorise huge amounts of knowledge. She covers Stonehenge, Avebury, Orkney, Newgrange, Carnac, Chaco Canyon, Nasca lines, Easter Island, and multiple American sites in detail.
Having been to Stonehenge recently I am keen to go back (and to the other sites) with her thesis in mind.
She makes a very convincing argument for which I would need to see significant proof against to disagree with her.
Kelly opens with a fascinating look at indigenous knowledge and how they could remember so much. She explores the methods that can be used such as memory spaces and song lines, and how they can be used in the modern world. (On a side note I will definitely look into her other book 'Memory Craft' to put them into practice myself!) I found how mythology can play into it really interesting, and offered me a different way to view it.
She goes on to explore her completely original thesis, that Neolithic monumental sites around the world were a memory system that allowed non-literate peoples to memorise huge amounts of knowledge. She covers Stonehenge, Avebury, Orkney, Newgrange, Carnac, Chaco Canyon, Nasca lines, Easter Island, and multiple American sites in detail.
Having been to Stonehenge recently I am keen to go back (and to the other sites) with her thesis in mind.
She makes a very convincing argument for which I would need to see significant proof against to disagree with her.
March 20, 2025
I picked up this book in 2021 as I was participating in Mimetic Teaching Workshop. I picked it up again from my stack about two weeks ago and was really amazed by the depth of understanding the use of memory in early human culture. Based on in-depth research, I wanted to jump in a graduate anthropology or archaeology program. We have not lost our ability to memorize and importance of memories but just out of practice. It is not to hide or get rid of technology but how we integrate it with our lives. We need to think in the same way concerning our use of memory. This is a book I recommend.
September 8, 2019
I've always been fascinated by people who can memorize astounding numbers of things. Dr. Kelly's enjoyable book provides a rational explanation of how preliterate civilizations used physical items (from knotted strings to giant statues) to help them memorize vast amounts of important information.
February 10, 2020
Loved, loved, loved this book!!
It has me questioning all the ways we learn and teach as well as the required subjects we teach our kids.
It has me questioning all the ways we learn and teach as well as the required subjects we teach our kids.
July 22, 2017
This is an incredibly comprehensive look at ancient ruins (Stonehenge, Easter Islands, etc) and how they could be used to keep memories of a culture alive. In the past, non-literate (preliterate) societies had to memorize and pass down their tribal histories as well as all the plants, insects, animals, landscape, star positions, multiple dialects of cultures they may come across, everything that would be essential to survival. Their memories held encyclopedic amounts of information. For those of us who get lost walking out the front door and our young who are hard-pressed to recite the times table or translate cursive writing, this detailed volume is fascinating.
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August 13, 2025I couldn’t honestly give this book a star rating. This woman is amazing and her research is incredible. The first third that outlines her thesis and supporting evidence was compelling and exciting. The rest of the book she describes ditches and rocks in excruciating detail - perhaps of interest in a phd but not well translated to a lay audience imo and extremely repetitive.
February 4, 2017
Dr Kelly’s book unlocked a 15 year old puzzle for me. When on holiday on the west coast of Scotland, I visited a Neolithic site recently uncovered by forestry workers. The site was a smooth exposed cliff face with a series of cup and ring carvings. The centre of each carving was a deep depression, probably created by grinding a harder stone into the cliff face like a pestle into a mortar. Around this cup were carved several rings. A line was carved from the cup out through the rings. Each cup had a different number of rings and each line pointed in a different direction. What did it mean? My friends and I speculated for years on the possible meaning of these carvings. Descriptions of constellations was our best bet.
Until at a parent/teacher night in my daughter’s classroom here in Australia where I saw the exact same thing! On a poster of Aboriginal symbols used in art. The legend on the poster described the familiar cup and ring symbol as an active campfire. The number of rings may have represented how far away the campsite was, measured in terms of days travel, and the line indicated the direction.
The cliff face, near a sheltered bay, may have served as a local map for an itinerant population.
The insight into symbols used to communicate in non-literate traditional Aboriginal culture was an epiphany in my understanding of the non-literate cultures of Neolithic Europeans.
Dr Kelly’s theories meshing anthropology studies of Australian Aboriginal memory systems with the archaeology of Neolithic Europe is very interesting and written in layman’s terms.
An engaging read for anyone interested in the mysteries of Neolithic Europe and the complexities of Australian Aboriginal memory systems.
Until at a parent/teacher night in my daughter’s classroom here in Australia where I saw the exact same thing! On a poster of Aboriginal symbols used in art. The legend on the poster described the familiar cup and ring symbol as an active campfire. The number of rings may have represented how far away the campsite was, measured in terms of days travel, and the line indicated the direction.
The cliff face, near a sheltered bay, may have served as a local map for an itinerant population.
The insight into symbols used to communicate in non-literate traditional Aboriginal culture was an epiphany in my understanding of the non-literate cultures of Neolithic Europeans.
Dr Kelly’s theories meshing anthropology studies of Australian Aboriginal memory systems with the archaeology of Neolithic Europe is very interesting and written in layman’s terms.
An engaging read for anyone interested in the mysteries of Neolithic Europe and the complexities of Australian Aboriginal memory systems.
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