The Memory Code

Lynne Kelly

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9781681777436
• eBook ISBN:
  9781681773827
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Australian & Oceanian History
• Index: Social Sciences

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. Kelly 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.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Contents
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Encyclopaedic memories of the elders
• Chapter 2. Memory spaces, large and small
• Chapter 3. Memory spaces in a modern world
• Chapter 4. A journey through time
• Chapter 5. The ever-changing memory spaces at Stonehenge
• Chapter 6. The megalithic complexes of Avebury and Orkney
• Chapter 7. Newgrange and the passage cairns of Ireland
• Chapter 8. The tall stones and endless rows of Carnac
• Chapter 9. The unparalleled architecture of Chaco Canyon
• Chapter 10. Giant drawings on the desert floor at Nasca
• Chapter 11. Memory spaces across the Americas
• Chapter 12. Polynesian navigators create a unique world on Easter Island
• Epilogue
• Illustrations
• Acknowledgements
• About the Author
• Notes
• Index
• Also by Lynne Kelly
• Copyright