The Edge of Memory: Ancient Stories, Oral Tradition and the Post-Glacial World

Written by an Australian geoscientist, this fascinating book looks at how events in deep time may have been recorded in the oral traditions of indigenous peoples around the world, and how we should pay attention to the stories we tell, as they may reveal real events from the past.

– Matthew Cobb, Ratio speaker –

In today’s society it is generally the written word that holds the authority. We are more likely to trust the words found in a history textbook over the version of history retold by a friend – after all, human memory is unreliable, and how can you be sure your friend hasn’t embellished the facts? But before humans were writing down their knowledge, they were telling it to each other in the form of stories.