An ancient memory technique developed by Aboriginal Australians may work better than the “mind palace” invented in ancient Greece and popularized by the BBC version of Sherlock Holmes.

Both methods involve mentally attaching information to a physical object or location, but the Aboriginal technique adds a storytelling component. Researchers aren’t sure if it’s the narrative element or some other aspect that seemed to boost the Aboriginal technique’s effectiveness, and the study is small. But the research highlights that cultures put in a lot of effort in order to pass along information without modern-day technology or even writing.