Memory Practice

Lynne Kelly wrote two books on how pre-literate cultures stored information. I've been interested in early hominids in Europe for a long time. I really feel her work is the first time a door has been opened that gives a deeper insight into those societies.

It's remarkable. She stumbled onto the subject by accident, but is rediscovering something that's been central to our species for vast spans of time: how cultures encoded (environmental) knowledge. And she has a hands-on approach (exploring songlines, mind-palaces, memory devices, narrative strategies, etc.). See her extensive description on techniques.

Since the new year I've started to try out things myself. I'm currently building up my first songline in our street (not literally a song) based on the history of the planet: the rise of the dinosaurs is at the old ladies' hat store, their demise at the cafe by the traffic light. Early hominids appear at the hairdresser's around the corner and Lucy is found when I reach a small women's fashion shop. It's a walk through time.

The first appearance of land-plants (flowershop) and the Cambrian explosion (daycare center) in our street and part of my prehistoric journey around 540 million years ago.

here is Lynne Kelly giving an introduction on her work.