From en.wikipedia.org:
[Andean record keeping system using knotted cords] [the Andean method of
record keeping] {{Infobox Writing system | time = [2600 BCE] | region =
Central Andes
- Caral–Supe civilization
- Paracas culture
- Wari culture
- Inca
| name = Quipu | altname = Khipu | sample = Inca Quipu.jpg | caption = An Inca
<em>quipu</em>, from the Larco Museum in Lima, Peru. | ipa-note = none }}
_QUIPU_ ([ˈ] [KEE]), also spelled _KHIPU_ ([quy], [quy]; [quz], [quz]), are
record keeping devices fashioned from knotted cords. They were historically
used by various cultures in the central Andes of South America, most
prominently by the Inca Empire.<ref name=":6" />
A _quipu_ usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords, and contains
categorized information based on dimensions like color, order and number.[1]
The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to
store numbers and other values in _quipu_ cords. Depending on its use and the
amount of information it stored, a given _quipu_ may have anywhere from a few
to several thousand cords.
Objects which can unambiguously be identified as _quipus_ first appear in the
archaeological record during 1st millennium CE,[2] likely attributable to the
Wari Empire.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" /> _Quipus_ subsequently played a
key part in the administration of the Kingdom of Cusco of the 13th to 15th
centuries, and later of the Inca Empire (1438–1533), flourishing across the
Andes from [1100] to 1532. Inca administration used _quipus_ extensively for
a variety of uses: monitoring tax obligations, collecting census records,
keeping calendrical information, military organization,[3] and potentially for
recording simple and stereotyped historical "annales".<ref name=":0" />
It is not known exactly how many intact _quipus_ still remain and where, as
many were deposited in ancient mausoleums<ref name="dying" /> or later
destroyed by the Spanish. However, a recent survey of both museum and private
collection inventories places the total number of known extant pre-Columbian
_quipus_ at just under 1,400.[4]
After the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire, _quipus_ were slowly replaced
by European writing and numeral systems. Many _quipus_ were identified as
idolatrous and destroyed, but some Spaniards promoted the adaptation of the
_quipu_ recording system to the needs of the colonial administration, and some
priests advocated the use of _quipus_ for ecclesiastical purposes.[5] Today,
_quipus_ continue to serve as important items in several modern Andean
villages.<ref name=":5" />
Various other cultures have used knotted strings, unrelated to South American
_quipu,_ to record information—these include, but are not limited to, Chinese
knotting, and practiced by Tibetans, Japanese, and
Polynesians.[6][7][8][9][10]
** Etymology
The word _quipu_ is derived from a Quechua word meaning 'knot'.[11] The terms
_quipu_ and _khipu_ are simply spelling variations on the same word. _Quipu_
is the traditional spelling based on the Spanish orthography, while _khipu_
reflects the recent Quechuan and Aymaran spelling shift. [qu] (pronounced
[quz]) comes from Cusco Quechua, while many other Quechua varieties use the
term [qu]. Currently, the hispanicized spelling of _quipu_ is the form most
commonly used in both Spanish and English.[12]
** Purpose
{{Quote box |width = 30em |border = 1px |align = right |bgcolor = #c6dbf7
|fontsize = 85% |title_bg = |title_fnt = |title = |quote="The khipu were
knotted-string devices that were used for recording both statistical and
narrative information, most notably by the Inca but also by other peoples of
the central Andes from pre-Incaic times, through the colonial and republican
eras, and even – in a considerably transformed and attenuated form – down to
the present day." |salign = right |source = Archaeologist Gary Urton,
2003.[13] }}
_Quipus_ held information, decipherable by officials called _quipucamayocs_
([quz], [qu]), classified in various categories, narrated from the most
important to the least important category, according to color, number, and
order.<ref name=":0" />
To date, most of the information recorded on the _quipus_ studied by
researchers consists of numbers in a decimal system,[14] such as "Indian
chiefs ascertain[ing] which province had lost more than another and
balanc[ing] the losses between them" after the Spanish invasion.[15] In the
early years of the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish officials often relied on
the _quipus_ to settle disputes over local tribute payments or goods
production. The _quipucamayocs_ could be summoned to court, where their
bookkeeping was recognised as valid documentation of past payments.
Some knots — as well as other features, such as color, fiber type, cord
attachments, etc. — are thought to represent non-numeric information, which
has not been deciphered. It is generally thought that the system did not
include phonetic symbols analogous to letters of the alphabet. However, Gary
Urton has suggested that the _quipus_ used a binary system which could record
phonological or logographic data.[16] According to Martti Pärssinen,
_quipucamayocs_ would learn specific oral texts, which in relation to the
basic information contained in _quipu_, and pictorial representations, often
painted on quiru vessels, similar to aztec pictograms, related simple
"episodes".<ref name=":0" />
In 2011, a potential match between six colonial-era Santa Valley Quipus and a
Spanish colonial document from the same region was identified.<ref
name="dying" /> Researchers believe this possible _quipu_-document match is
the strongest Rosetta Stone-like connection currently known, which could offer
key clues needed to unlock the full extent of the quipu code. Subsequent
studies have built on the proposed _quipu_-document connection, suggesting
that the binary manner by which cords can be attached to the main body of the
six _quipus_ may encode moiety affiliation,[17][18] and, more recently,
uncovering detailed Andean social structures encoded within the six
_quipus_.[19]
The lack of a clear link between any indigenous Andean languages and the
_quipus_ has historically led to the supposition that _quipus_ are not a
glottographic writing system and have no phonetic referent.[20] Frank Salomon,
at the University of Wisconsin, has argued that _quipus_ are actually a
semasiographic language, a system of representative symbols[snd]such as music
notation or numerals[snd]that relay information but are not directly related
to the speech sounds of a particular language,[21] like ideograms and
proto-writing.
Sabine Hyland claims to have made the first phonetic decipherment through her
analysis of epistolary _quipus_ from San Juan de Collata, Peru_,_ challenging
the assumption that _quipus_ do not represent information phonetically.[22]
However, the _quipus_ in question date to the colonial period and are believed
to have been exchanged during an 18th-century rebellion against the Spanish
government, suggesting that their encoding may have been influenced by the
introduction of European writing systems. With the help of local leaders,
Hyland argues that the names of the two _ayllus_, or family lineages, who
received and sent the _quipus_ can be translated using phonetic references to
the animal fibers and colors of the relevant quipu cords.[23][24]
*** Numeral system
While Spanish colonial chroniclers, such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, hinted
at the numerical system of _quipus_, it is Leslie Leland Locke who is often
credited with first demonstrating that many _quipus_ encode numbers using a
base-10 positional notation.[25][26] Starting in the late 1960's and building
on Locke's foundational work, Marcia Ascher and Robert Ascher analyzed several
hundred _quipus_, revealing that most of the information recorded by _quipu_
knots is numerical and can be systematically interpreted.[Numeral systems]
Most q_uipus_ use three main types of knots: simple overhand knots; "long
knots", consisting of an overhand knot with one or more additional turns; and
figure-eight knots. The Aschers’ also identified a fourth, and less common,
type of knot—a figure-eight knot with an extra twist—which they refer to as an
"EE" knot. On a given _quipu_ cord, knots are grouped into clusters. Each
cluster is tied at specific registers, or lengths, along the cord. These knot
clusters represent digits in a base-10 number system.[27] The units, or "ones"
position is commonly tied at the bottom of a cord, followed by a space above
it, then the "tens" position, then another space, then hundreds position, and
so on. In other words:
- Powers of ten are denoted by position along the string, and this position is often aligned between successive strands.
- Digits in positions for 10 and higher powers are represented by clusters of simple knots (e.g., 40 is four simple knots in a row in the "tens" position).
- Digits 2–9 in the "ones" position are represented by long knots (e.g., 4 is a knot with four turns), and the digit 1 in the "ones" position is represented by a figure-eight knot.
- Zero is represented by the absence of a knot in the appropriate position.
For example, if 4s represents four simple knots, 3L represents a long knot
with three turns, E represents a figure-eight knot, and X represents a space:
- The number 731 would be represented by 7s, 3s, E.
- The number 804 would be represented by 8s, X, 4L.
- The number 1493 would be represented by 1s, 4s, 9s, 3L.
Since the ones position on _quipu_ cords are shown in a distinctive way (i.e.,
using long knots and figure-eight knots), it is usually clear where a number
ends. Thus, it is possible that a single _quipu_ cord could contain several
numbers. For example:
- The number 107 followed by the number 51 would be represented by 1s, X, 7L, 5s, E.
The "reading" of _quipu_ knots as numbers in the way outlined above is
bolstered by the fortunate fact that _quipus_ regularly contain sums in
systematic ways.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" />[28] For instance, a cord
may contain the sum of the next _n_ cords, with this relationship being
repeated throughout the _quipu_. In other cases, there are even cords which
contain sums of sums. Such a relationship would be highly improbable if
_quipu_ knot values were being incorrectly interpreted.
Some data items are not numbers but what Ascher and Ascher call _number
labels_.[29] They are still composed of digits, but the resulting number seems
to be used as a code, much as we use numbers to identify individuals, places,
or things. For example, Carrie J. Brezine decoded that a particular
three-number label at the beginning of some _quipus_ may refer to Puruchuco,
similar to a ZIP code.[30]
*** Literary uses
Some have argued that far more than numeric information is present and that
_quipus_ are a writing system. This would be an especially important
discovery as there is no surviving record of written Quechua predating the
Spanish invasion. Possible reasons for this apparent absence of a written
language include destruction by the Spanish of all written records, or the
successful concealment by the Inca peoples of those records. Making the
matter even more complex, the Inca 'kept separate "khipu" for each province,
on which a pendant string recorded the number of people belonging to each
category.'[31] This creates yet another step in the process of decryption in
addition to the Spanish attempts at eradicating the system.<ref
name=suppress>[url=http://kuprienko.info/fernando-murillo-de-la-cerda-carta-sobre-los-caracteres-usados-por-los-indios-antes-de-la-conquista-1589/]
Historians Edward Hyams and George Ordish claims quipus were recording
devices, similar to musical notation, in that the notes on the page present
basic information, and the performer would then bring those details to
life.[32]
In 2003, while checking the geometric signs that appear on drawings of Inca
dresses from the _First New Chronicle and Good Government_, written by Felipe
Guaman Poma de Ayala in 1615, William Burns Glynn found a pattern that seems
to decipher some words from _quipus_ by matching knots to colors of strings.
The August 12, 2005, edition of the journal _Science_ includes a report titled
"Khipu Accounting in Ancient Peru" by anthropologist Gary Urton and
mathematician Carrie J. Brezine. Their work may represent the first
identification of a _quipu_ element for a non-numeric concept, a sequence of
three figure-eight knots at the start of a _quipu_ that seems to be a unique
signifier. It could be a toponym for the city of Puruchuco (near Lima), or
the name of the _quipu_ keeper who made it, or its subject matter, or even a
time designator.[33]
Beynon-Davies considers _quipus_ as a sign system and develops an
interpretation of their physical structure in terms of the concept of a data
system.[34]
_Khipu kamayuqkuna_ (knot makers/keepers, i.e., the former Inca record
keepers) supplied colonial administrators with a variety and quantity of
information pertaining to censuses, tribute, ritual and calendrical
organization, genealogies, and other such matters from Inca times. Performing
a number of statistical tests for _quipu_ sample VA 42527, one study led by
Alberto Sáez-Rodríguez discovered that the distribution and patterning of S-
and Z-knots can organize the information system from a real star map of the
Pleiades cluster.[35]
Laura Minelli, a professor of pre-Columbian studies at the University of
Bologna, has discovered something which she claims to be a seventeenth-century
Jesuit manuscript that describes literary _quipus_, titled [la]. This
manuscript consists of nine folios with Spanish, Latin, and ciphered Italian
texts. Owned by the family of Neapolitan historian Clara Miccinelli, the
manuscript also includes a wool _quipu_ fragment. Miccinelli claims that the
text was written by two Italian Jesuit missionaries, Joan Antonio Cumis and
Giovanni Anello Oliva, around 1610–1638, and Blas Valera, a mestizo Jesuit
sometime before 1618. Along with the details of reading literary _quipus_,
the documents also discuss the events and people of the Spanish conquest of
Peru. According to Cumis, since so many _quipus_ were burned by the Spanish,
very few remained for him to analyze. As related in the manuscript, the word
Pacha Kamaq, the Inca deity of earth and time, was used many times in these
_quipus_, where the syllables were represented by symbols formed in the knots.
Following the analysis of the use of "Pacha Kamaq", the manuscript offers a
list of many words present in _quipus_.[36] However, both Bruce Mannheim, the
director of the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of
Michigan, and Colgate University's Gary Urton, question its origin and
authenticity. These documents seem to be inspired freely by a 1751 writing of
Raimondo di Sangro, Prince of Sansevero.[37][38][39]
** History
*** Possible proto- _quipus_
Claims of the earliest _quipu,_ or possible proto-_quipu,_ comes from the Late
Preceramic (c. 3000–1800 BCE) site of Caral,[40][41] though this claim has
yet to be thoroughly evaluated. A more plausible candidate for the earliest
known precursor to _quipus_ may be the wrapped batons found at the site of
Cerrillos from the Late Paracas Period (c. 350–200 BCE).[42]
*** Wari Empire
The first undisputed evidence of _quipu_ technology dates back to the Middle
Horizon (c. 600–1000 CE),[43] with these early _quipus_ being used by the
Wari Empire. Differing slightly from their Inca successors, extant Wari
_quipu_ specimens tend to be smaller, have brightly colored thread wrapped
cords, and its own system of knots which scholars do not fully
understand.[44][45]
*** Inca Empire
[Inca education]
_Quipucamayocs_ (Quechua _khipu kamayuq_, "khipu-authority"), the accountants
of Tawantin Suyu, created and deciphered the _quipu_ knots. _Quipucamayocs_
could carry out basic arithmetic operations, such as addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division. They kept track of mita, a form of taxation.
The _quipucamayocs_ also tracked the type of labor being performed, maintained
a record of economic output, and ran a census that counted everyone from
infants to "old blind men over 80". The system was also used to keep track of
the calendar. According to Guaman Poma, _quipucamayocs_ could "read" the
_quipus_ with their eyes closed.<ref name="AncientScripts" />
_Quipucamayocs_ were from a class of people, "males, fifty to sixty",[46] and
were not the only members of Inca society to use _quipus_. Inca historians
used _quipus_ when telling the Spanish about Tawantin Suyu history (whether
they only recorded important numbers or actually contained the story itself is
unknown). Members of the ruling class were usually taught to read _quipus_ in
the Inca equivalent of a university, the _yachay wasi_ (literally, "house of
teaching"), in the third year of schooling, for the higher classes who would
eventually become the bureaucracy.[47]
*** Spanish Empire
In 1532, the Spanish Empire's conquest of the Andean region began, with
several Spanish conquerors making note of the existence of _quipus_ in their
written records about the invasion. The earliest known example comes from
Hernando Pizarro, the brother of the Spanish military leader Francisco
Pizarro, who recorded an encounter that he and his men had in 1533 as they
traveled along the royal road from the highlands to the central coast.[48] It
was during this journey that they encountered several _quipu_ keepers, later
relating that these keepers "untied some of the knots which they had in the
deposits section [of the khipu], and they [re-]tied them in another section
[of the khipu]."[49][50][51][52]
Christian officials of the Third Council of Lima banned and ordered the
burning of some q_uipus_ in 1583 because they were used to record offerings to
non-Christian gods and were therefore considered idolatrous objects and an
obstacle to religious conversion.[53]
*** Contemporary social importance
The _quipu_ system operated as both a method of calculation and social
organization, regulating regional governance and land use.[54] While evidence
for the latter is still under the critical eye of scholars around the world,
the very fact that they are kept to this day without any confirmed level of
fluent literacy in the system is testament to its historical 'moral
authority.'[55] Today, "khipu" is regarded as a powerful symbol of heritage,
only 'unfurled' and handled by 'pairs of [contemporary] dignitaries,' as the
system and its 'construction embed' modern 'cultural knowledge.'<ref
name="Niles, Susan A. 2007. 93" /> Ceremonies in which they are 'curated,
even though they can no longer be read,' is even further support for the case
of societal honor and significance associated with the _quipu_.<ref
name="Niles, Susan A. 2007. 93" /> Even today, 'the knotted cords must be
present and displayed when village officers leave or begin service, and
draping the cords over the incoming office holders instantiates the moral and
political authority of the past.'<ref name="Niles, Susan A. 2007. 93" />
These examples are indicative of how the _quipu_ system was not only
fundamental mathematically and linguistically for the original Inca, but also
for cultural preservation of the original empire's descendants..
Anthropologists and archaeologists carrying out research in Peru have
highlighted two known cases where _quipus_ have continued to be used by
contemporary communities, albeit as ritual items seen as "communal patrimony"
rather than as devices for recording information.[56] The _quipu_ system,
being the useful method of social management it was for the Inca, is also a
link to the Cuzco census, as it was one of the primary methods of population
calculation.[57] This also has allowed historians and anthropologists to
understand both the census and the "decimal hierarchy" system the Inca used,
and that they were actually 'initiated together,' due to the fact that they
were 'conceptually so closely linked.'<ref name="D'Altroy, Terence N. 2001"
/>
**** Tupicocha, Peru
In 1994, the American cultural anthropologist Frank Salomon conducted a study
in the Peruvian village of Tupicocha, where _quipus_ are still an important
part of the social life of the village.[58] As of 1994, this was the only
known village where _quipus_ with a structure similar to pre-Columbian
_quipus_ were still used for official local government record-keeping and
functions, although the villagers did not associate their _quipus_ with Inca
artifacts.[59]
**** San Cristóbal de Rapaz, Peru
The villagers of San Cristóbal de Rapaz (known as Rapacinos), located in the
Province of Oyón, keep a _quipu_ in an old ceremonial building, the _Kaha
Wayi_, that is itself surrounded by a walled architectural complex. Also
within the complex is a disused communal storehouse, known as the _Pasa
Qullqa_, which was formerly used to protect and redistribute the local crops,
and some Rapacinos believe that the _quipu_ was once a record of this process
of collecting and redistributing food. The entire complex was important to
the villagers, being "the seat of traditional control over land use, and the
centre of communication with the deified mountains who control weather".<ref
name="Peters and Salomon 41" />
In 2004, the archaeologist Renata Peeters (of the UCL Institute of Archaeology
in London) and the cultural anthropologist Frank Salomon (of the University of
Wisconsin) undertook a project to conserve both the _quipus_ in Rapaz and the
building that it was in, due to their increasingly poor condition.[60]
**** Jucul, Peru
The remote village of Jucul, Peru, has kept _quipus_ in the attic of its
colonial church for centuries, only recently being discovered by outsiders in
2024.[61] These _quipus_ are closely related to those of San Cristóbal de
Rapaz, which is near by.[62]
** Archaeological investigation
In 1912, Leslie Leland Locke published "The Ancient Quipu, A Peruvian Knot
Record," _American Anthropologist,_ New Series I4 (1912) 325–332.<ref
name=":1" /> This was the first work to show how the Inca (Inka) Empire and
its predecessor societies used the _quipu_ for mathematical and accounting
records in the decimal system.
The archaeologist Gary Urton noted in his 2003 book _Signs of the Inka Khipu_
that he estimated "from my own studies and from the published works of other
scholars that there are about 600 extant _quipu_ in public and private
collections around the world."[63]
According to the Khipu Database Project[64] undertaken by Harvard University
professor Gary Urton and his colleague Carrie Brezine, 751 _quipus_ have been
reported to exist across the globe.[date=November 2023] Their whereabouts
range from Europe to North and South America. Most are housed in museums
outside of their native countries, but some reside in their native locations
under the care of the descendants of those who made the knot records. A table
of the largest collections is shown below.
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |+Collections of _Quipus_ |-
!scope="col"| Museum collection !scope="col"| Location !scope="col"| _Quipus_
|- !scope="row"| Ethnological Museum of Berlin | Berlin, Germany ||
298[date=November 2023] |- !scope="row"| Museum Five Continents[65] | Munich,
Germany || |- !scope="row"| Pachacamac[66] | near Lima, Peru || 35 |-
!scope="row"| Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del
Perú[67] | Lima, Peru || 35 |- !scope="row"| Centro Mallqui[68] | Leimebamba,
Amazonas, Peru || 32 |- !scope="row"| Museo Temple Radicati, National
University of San Marcos | Lima, Peru || 26 |- !scope="row"| Regional Museum
of Ica "Adolfo Bermúdez Jenkins" | Ica, Peru || 25 |- !scope="row"| Museo
Puruchuco[69] | Ate District, Lima, Peru || 23 |}
While patrimonial _quipu_ collections have not been accounted for in this
database, their numbers are likely to be unknown. One prominent patrimonial
collection held by the Rapazians of Rapaz, Peru, was recently researched by
University of Wisconsin–Madison professor, Frank Salomon.[70]
*** Preservation
_Quipus_ are made of fibers, either spun and plied thread such as wool or hair
from alpaca, llama, guanaco or vicuña, though are also commonly made of
cellulose like cotton. Archaeological evidence has also shown that, in some
cases, finely carved wood was used as a supplemental base to which the
color-coded cords could be attached.[71] The knotted strings of _quipus_ were
often made with an "elaborate system of knotted cords, dyed in various colors,
the significance of which was known to the magistrates".[72] Fading of color,
natural or dyed, cannot be reversed, and may indicate further damage to the
fibers. Colors can darken if damaged by dust or by certain dyes and
mordants.[73] _Quipus_ have been found with adornments, such dried potatoes
and beans, attached to the cords, and these non-textile materials may require
additional preservation measures.[74]
_Quipus_ are now preserved using techniques that aim to minimize their future
degradation. Museums, archives and special collections have adopted
preservation guidelines from textile practices.[75]
Environmental controls are used to monitor and control temperature, humidity
and light exposure of storage areas. As with all textiles, cool, clean, dry
and dark environments are most suitable. The heating, ventilating and air
conditioning, or HVAC systems, of buildings that house _quipu_ knot records
are usually automatically regulated. Relative humidity should be 60% or
lower, with low temperatures, as high temperatures can damage the fibres and
make them brittle. Damp conditions and high humidity can damage protein-rich
material. Textiles suffer damage from ultraviolet (UV) light, which can
include fading and weakening of the fibrous material. When _quipus_ are on
display, their exposure to ambient conditions is usually minimized and closely
monitored.<ref name="CanadaCITextile"/>[76]
Despite best efforts, damage can occur during storage, or be from the result
of earlier conservation efforts.[77] The more accessible the items are during
storage, the greater the chance of early detection.<ref
name="conservationregister" /> Storing _quipus_ horizontally on boards covered
with a neutral pH paper (paper that is neither acid or alkaline) to prevent
potential acid transfer is a preservation technique that extends the life of a
collection. The fibers can be abraded by rubbing against each other or, for
those attached to sticks or rods, by their own weight if held in an upright
position. Extensive handling of _quipus_ can also increase the risk of
further damage.[78]
_Quipus_ are also closely monitored for mold, as well as insects and their
larvae. As with all textiles, these are major problems. Fumigation may not
be recommended for fiber textiles displaying mold or insect infestations,
although it is common practice for ridding paper of mold and insects.
Conservators in the field of library science have the skills to handle a
variety of situations. Even though some _quipus_ have hundreds of cords, each
cord should be assessed and treated individually. _Quipu_ cords can be
"mechanically cleaned with brushes, small tools and light vacuuming".<ref
name="Salomon" /> Just as the application of fungicides is not recommended to
rid _quipus_ of mold, neither is the use of solvents to clean them.
Even when people have tried to preserve _quipus_, corrective care may still be
required. If _quipus_ are to be conserved close to their place of origin,
local camelid or wool fibres in natural colors can be obtained and used to
mend breaks and splits in the cords.[79] Rosa Choque Gonzales and Rosalia
Choque Gonzales, conservators from southern Peru, worked to conserve the Rapaz
patrimonial _quipus_ in the Andean village of Rapaz, Peru. These _quipus_ had
undergone repair in the past, so this conservator team used new local camelid
and wool fibers to spin around the area under repair in a similar fashion to
the earlier repairs found on the _quipu_.<ref name="Salomon" />
When Gary Urton, professor of Anthropology at Harvard, was asked "Are they
[_quipus_] fragile?", he answered, "some of them are, and you can't touch them
– they would break or turn into dust. Many are quite well preserved, and you
can actually study them without doing them any harm. Of course, any time you
touch an ancient fabric like that, you're doing some damage, but these strings
are generally quite durable."[80]
Ruth Shady, a Peruvian archeologist, has discovered a _quipu_ or perhaps
_proto-quipu_ believed to be around 5,000 years old in the coastal city of
Caral. It was in quite good condition, with "brown cotton strings wound
around thin sticks", along with "a series of offerings, including mysterious
fiber balls of different sizes wrapped in 'nets' and pristine reed baskets.
Piles of raw cotton – uncombed and containing seeds, though turned a dirty
brown by the ages – and a ball of cotton thread" were also found preserved.
The good condition of these articles can be attributed to the arid climate of
Caral.[81]
** In popular culture
*** Film and television
- _Kamen Rider Amazon_ (1974): In Episode 6, Amazon and friends investigate and find a _quipu_ which Amazon could decipher. But the Porcupine Beastman arrives and steals the _quipu_ . The Mole Beastman retrieves the _quipu_ for Amazon who learns of the Incan science rested on the GiGi and GaGa Armlets.
- _Earth: Final Conflict_ (1999): A _quipu_ and the Nazca Lines play a role in the plot of Season 3, Episode 5.
- _Da Vinci's Demons_ (2014): In Season 3, Episode 5, Leonardo and his associates are captured by an Inca patrol, who are given updated orders recorded on a _quipu_ .
- _Teekyu_ (2015): In Season 4, Marimo uses a _quipu_ to subdue Tomarin in a comedic sequence.
- _Dora and the Lost City of Gold_ (2019): Dora "reads" a stone _quipu_ by touch to uncover a treasure's location.
- _See_ (2019-2022): Characters in the series, who are blind, use knotted strings for communication.
- _Futurama_ (2024): In Season 12, Episode 1, Bender returns to his country of origin, Mexico, [82] where he receives a _quipu_ from his grandmother.
- _Paddington in Peru_ (2024): A message is recorded in a _quipu_ to provide directions to El Dorado .
- _Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado_ (2025): Dora and Diego interpret quipus throughout their adventures. [83]
*** Literature
- _The Wine-Dark Sea_ by Patrick O’Brian : A _quipu_ conveys an important message in Chapter 9.
- _The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O._ by Neal Stephenson and Nicole Galland : _Quipus_ are used by witches for navigating time travel algorithms.
- _This Is How You Lose the Time War_ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone : A letter from "Blue" is hidden in pre-Columbian Peru as a "knot code."
- _Ammonite_ by Nicola Griffith : Knotted message cords, read by touch, facilitate communication across distances.
- _Catalina_ by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio : Researchers work to decode Andean _quipus_ in a subplot.
*** Games
- _Death Stranding_ : The character Amelie wears a _quipu_ necklace, and a device inspired by the _quipu_ —the Q-Pid—is featured.
- _Magic: The Gathering_ : The expansion set _The Lost Caverns of Ixalan_ includes a card named "Braided Quipu," transforming from "Braided Net."
** References
*** Footnotes
[23em]
*** Bibliography
[30em]
- [last=Adrien]
- [author=The Archaeological Institute of America ]
- [last1=Ascher]
- [last1=Ascher]
- [last=Brokaw]
- [ last = Cook ]
- [last=D'Altroy ]
- [last=Day ]
- [last1=Hyland] Web access (see https://st-andrews.academia.edu/SabineHyland)
- [last= Niles]
- [last=Nordenskiold ]
- [title= Patrimony and partnership: conserving the _khipu_ legacy of Rapaz, Peru ]
- [last=Piechota ]
- Saez-Rodríguez, A. (2012). An Ethnomathematics Exercise for Analyzing a Khipu Sample from Pachacamac (Perú). Revista Latinoamericana de Etnomatemática. 5(1), 62–88.
- [last=Salomon ]
- [last=Salomon ]
- [last1=Salomon ]
- [ last=Urton ]
- [last=Urton ]
- [author=Urton, Gary ]
- [ last=Urton ]
- Urton, Gary. 2017. _Inka history in knots_ . Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
- [last=Domenici ]
- [last=Locke ]
- [last=National Geographic ]
[Refend]
** External links
[Quipu] [Quipus]
*** _Quipu_ database projects
- The Open Khipu Repository (see https://zenodo.org/records/5037552) (formerly known as the Harvard Khipu Database Project (see https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/lac/khipu-database-khipu-archives) )
- The Khipu Field Guide (see https://www.khipufieldguide.com) ( _quipu_ schematics and investigations from a large _quipu_ database)
- Code of the Quipu: Databooks (see https://courses.cit.cornell.edu/quipu/) (contains the descriptions and data for the more than 200 _quipus_ studied Marcia Ascher and Robert Ascher)
*** Virtual _quipu_ exhibitions
- _Standardizing an Empire (see https://www.nist.gov/nist-museum/standardizing-empire) _ (2023 exhibition by the National Institute of Standards and Technology Museum in collaboration with Dumbarton Oaks )
- _The Khipu Keepers: Explore the undeciphered writing of the Incas_ (see https://artsandculture.google.com/project/khipus) (2020 exhibition by the Google Arts & Culture in collaboration with the Lima Art Museum )
- _Written in Knots: Undeciphered Accounts of Andean Life_ (see https://www.doaks.org/visit/museum/exhibitions/past/written-in-knots) (2019 exhibition by the Dumbarton Oaks )
- _Quipu: Counting with knots in the Inka Empire_ (see https://precolombino.cl/wp/en/exposiciones/exposiciones-temporales/exposicion-quipu-contar-anudando-en-el-imperio-inka-2003/) (2003 exhibition by the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino )
*** Media coverage
- New Details Emerge About Ancient Inca Counting Technology - Gizmodo - Margherita Bassi - August 13, 2025 (see https://gizmodo.com/new-details-emerge-about-ancient-inca-counting-technology-2000641747)
- [last=Romero ]
- [date=August 12, 2005 ]
- [title=Peruvian 'writing' system goes back 5,000 years ] – MSNBC
[Inca Empire topics] [Knots]
[Authority control]
Category:Archaeological artefact types Category:Inca mathematics
Category:Knots Category:Mathematical notation Category:Numerals
Category:Proto-writing Category:Recording Category:Textile arts of the Andes
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