�Is it a mnemonic network�of neolithic sites?
Check if this network of standing stones and posts match the 10 criteria of a mnemonic construction
1) Social value of mnemonic constructions
Mnemonic sites and long distance Travel emerge at neolithic
Space & travel memory is a capacity specific to mobile animals
Social indexing of information brings long term memory
2) 10 criteria of a mnemonic construction
Cadran du Pilat network of megalithic sites &�the 10 indicators of mnemonic sites
Monuments for memory, by Lynne Kelly
“My theory about the purpose of many ancient monuments argues that they were built primarily as memory spaces. Their design was specifically to enable elders to practice their memorisation, to teach it and to perform the knowledge for the community according to the various levels of initiation of the audience. Elders memorised the knowledge on which survival, physically and culturally, depended: entire field guides to all the animals and plants, navigational charts, genealogies, laws, resource rights, trade agreements, land management, astronomy, geology … all in memory.
In Knowledge and Power in Prehistoric Societies, I present ten indicators that a monument was built as a memory space, that is, it was a mnemonic monument. They are listed in decreasing order of importance. “
10 criteria to assess a mnemonic site
1. A stratified society with no sign of individual wealth or coercion�In the small scale oral cultures I am talking about, the elders maintained their power through controlling knowledge. In all other ways, the societies appear to be egalitarian.
2. Public and restricted ceremonial sites�The imperative to perform the knowledge repeatedly should leave an archaeological record of both public and restricted performance spaces. Platforms, mounds, enclosed spaces, plazas and even flat-bottomed ditches, can act as suitable performance spaces. Restricted spaces ensure those initiated higher into the knowledge can repeat it in secrecy which effectively avoids the so-called Chinese whispers effect. When dealing with knowledge from generations ago, such as surviving severe resource stresses, accurate retention is essential.
“If an archaeological site demonstrated most, if not all, of the ten indicators, then it is logical to conclude that the control of knowledge was a fundamental aspect of the culture which constructed the monument. The elders constucted themselves a memory space. And the most elite of them may well have been buried there.”
Pilat Quadrant “corresponding” references
1. A network supporting (hypothesis) distribution of high value artefacts, signs of power�Knowledge controled: jadeite quarry location in Italy (Viso, Beigua), how to get there from Britany / to Britany, how to cross the Alps, where to land in British Islands, evaluate distances and headings directions.
2. At Pilat Quadrant location has public and ceremonial places�We have platforms, enclosed spaces, plazas, that can act as suitable performance spaces. We also have Restricted spaces like stone circles / cromlechs. Same all across the Network: landmarks and posts are enclosures.
Pilat Quadrant Presentations
10 criteria to assess a mnemonic site
3. Large investment of labour for no obvious reason�Mobile cultures use significant landscape places in order to keep a record of each aspect of the knowledge. They encode it in the landscape. If a society is to settle they must replicate these set of locations in the local area.
4. Signs of a prescribed order—the Method of Loci�If a monument is a memory space, then there must be a prescribed order to the memory locations so that information is not lost through lack of reference. The ancient Greeks described their locations from their preliterate times: there should be a defined sequence in a location away from distracting passers-by which is well lit, with loci not too much like one another, of moderate size, with a moderate distance between them. Circles or lines of stones or posts, a sequence in the ditches or mounds enclosing open space, or large, non-domestic ‘buildings’ would serve as memory theatres beautifully.
Pilat Quadrant “corresponding” references
3. A network of similar site with circles of stone or carved, or wood henges.�
4. Signs of a prescribed order—the Method of Loci�Several cromlech, including Stonehenge are part of the network with rather small size (100 - 200 m perimeter) and regular posts, with different size and shape. Isolated place such as Alesia, Pilat Quadrant, Stonehenge. Not on a circulation road or river. As well, stone alignments, viewfinders.
Pilat Quadrant Presentations
10 criteria to assess a mnemonic site
5. Enigmatic decorated objects�Documented oral cultures use a huge variety of memory aids: inscribed stones, notched or decorated wooden sticks or boards, inscribed bark, decorated hides, dance costumes, masks, props, knotted chords, curated human and animal bones, bundles of non-utilitarian or symbolic objects and representations of mythological ancestors on a wide variety of media. �Enigmatic objects found at ceremonial sites which match these patterns add to the argument that the monument served as a memory space.
6. An imbalance in trade�Knowledge is traded in every society I have examined, literate and non-literate. If resources and labour are coming into the site but nothing being manufactured or grown there, then it is logical to assume that it is a place when knowledge is being traded in the form of songs, dances and mythological stories and encoded using a variety of memory devices.
Pilat Quadrant “corresponding” references
5. Engraved stones�Signs dictionary limited to circles, foot, cross and lines, on non utilitariant stones, placed in remote locations (but with a view).�
6. An imbalance in trade�Nothing comes from locations placed in the network (Carnac, Alesia, Stonehenge). With the exception of carnacean axes reshape technique, which is visible on axes that have been through that step of the circulation. The know how acquired is traveling that way.
Pilat Quadrant Presentations
10 criteria to assess a mnemonic site
7. Astronomical observations and calendrical devices�Whoever maintains the calendar holds a very powerful role in oral cultures. Detailed astronomical observances were common among complex hunter-gatherers, primarily to maintain calendars and schedule ceremonies. The heavens were also used as memory aids, with characters and stories attributed to stars and planets as it is the case with every society, literate or non-literate. Astronomical alignments add to the argument that a monument is a memory space.
8. Monuments that reference the landscape�Landscape references are critical as memory markers in the oral tradition of both mobile and sedentary cultures. Not surprisingly, most of the enigmatic monuments around the world make some reference to the much wider landscape.
Pilat Quadrant “corresponding” references
7. Pilat Quadrant is a solsticial device�Alignement 21st of Dec and 21st of June with appearing sunset and sunrise. As well, the network is perfectly oriented N/S and E/W. True North is observed to the 0.1 degree precision.
8. An miniature of the Alps �Small stones mimic Alps specific mountains, at scale : same shape, same relative position, at Pilat uadrant.
Pilat Quadrant Presentations
10 criteria to assess a mnemonic site
9. Acoustic enhancement�Songs are far easier to remember than prose; dramatic performances are more memorable than static recitations. Monuments which are designed to aid memory would have structures which enhance singing, chanting and the music for the dances. And it is those songs which encode all the essential practical information.
10. Rock art as mnemonic�We know from historic oral cultures that rock art is often used to aid memory of the stories, songs, chants and other aspects of the knowledge system. Abstract art is far more useful as multiple layers of information can be encoded and secrecy maintained.
Pilat Quadrant “corresponding” references
9. Acoustic enhancement�Needs verification at les Faves in the smallest cromlech (n°3). Certainly the case in Ringwould circle (dug in clay). Assessed in Stonehenge.�
10. Rock art as mnemonic�Pierre des Trois Evêques and other cup and ring stones are interpreted as at scale maps, orientated, showing summits (cups), cross roads (cross) and directions (foot orientation)
Pilat Quadrant Presentations
Reference
Mnemonic site 10 criteria / Lynne Kelly thesis�https://www.lynnekelly.com.au/?page_id=1325
A mnemonic megalithic site transported over 200 km: Stonehenge https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/feb/12/dramatic-discovery-links-stonehenge-to-its-original-site-in-wales
Material Mnemonics: Everyday Memory in Prehistoric Europe Paperback – September 12, 2010
by Katina T. Lillios (Author), Vasileios Tsamis (Author)
Iron Age Mnemonics: A Biographical Approach to Dwelling in Later Prehistoric Britain�Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2021 Lindsey Büster Link
The Role of Rock Art as a Mnemonic Device in the Memorisation of Cultural Knowledge�Leslie F. Zubieta First Online: 08 July 2022 link
Mnemonic sites conference�https://www.slideshare.net/WilliamPHall/episode-55-mnemonics-and-the-rise-of-social-complexity-meetup-session-20
Other refs
Mnemonic Devices: Classification, Characteristics, and criteria �https://www.jstor.org/stable/1170198