Quipu, also spelled khipu, 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.
๐ Definition and Materials
A quipu usually consists of cotton or camelid fiber cords. It contains categorized information based on dimensions like color, order, and number.
The Inca used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values. Depending on use, quipus can have anywhere from a few to several thousand cords.
๐๏ธ Historical Use
Objects identifiable as quipus first appear in the archaeological record during the 1st millennium CE, likely attributable to the Wari Empire. Quipus played a key part in the administration of the Kingdom of Cusco and later the Inca Empire.
Inca administration used quipus for monitoring tax obligations, collecting census records, keeping calendrical information, and military organization. They were also potentially used for recording simple historical “annales”.
๐ข Numerical System
Most information recorded on studied quipus consists of numbers in a decimal system. Leslie Leland Locke is credited with first demonstrating that many quipus encode numbers using a base-10 positional notation.
Marcia Ascher and Robert Ascher analyzed several hundred quipus, revealing that most recorded information is numerical. Spanish officials often relied on quipus to settle disputes over local tribute payments.
๐ Decipherment Efforts
Some knots and features are thought to compose an undeciphered non-numeric information system. Anthropologist Gary Urton suggested quipus used a binary system that could record phonological or logographic data.
In 2011, a potential match between six colonial-era quipus and a Spanish document was identified. Sabine Hyland claims to have made the first phonetic decipherment through analysis of epistolary quipus from San Juan de Collata.
๐ Modern Status
After the Spanish conquest, quipus were slowly replaced by European writing and numeral systems. Many quipus were identified as idolatrous and destroyed.
Today, quipus continue to serve as important items in several modern Andean villages. The total number of known extant pre-Columbian quipus is just under 1,400.
| Feature | Description | Time Period | Key Use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Materials | Cotton or camelid fiber cords | 1st millennium CE onward | Record-keeping |
| Numerical System | Base-10 positional notation | Inca Empire (1438-1533) | Tax, census, calendar |
| Decipherment | Primarily numerical; non-numeric debated | Ongoing research | Phonetic and semasiographic theories |
| Survival | ~1,400 known pre-Columbian quipus | Colonial period to present | Modern Andean villages still use them |