How The Inca Used String To Keep Records
For more than a thousand years, many Andean peoples have used an object known as a “khipu” to record and communicate information. Khipus were made with cords or strings with knots tied into them. Some of these knots represented numbers.
Khipus were particularly important to the Inca Empire, which lasted from around 1438 C.E. until 1532 C.E. when the Spanish conquered the empire.
The Incas did not leave behind any written records, so the khipus were thought to have been their main record-keeping and communication system.
Khipus were typically created with cotton or fibers from camelids, a group of animals that includes camels, llamas, and alpacas.
The materials were either dyed or left as their natural color. Several khipus contained plant fibers, while others incorporated human hair.
There were also specially trained khipu makers who constructed these tools with great care. They considered factors like the colors that should be used, the direction of the spin and ply of the cord fibers, the spacing and type of cord attachments, and the structure and position of the knots.
According to early Spanish historical accounts, the khipu was used for various number-related tasks, such as recording population censuses, storehouse inventories, and tax obligations.
Researchers have been examining khipus for over a century, hoping to pinpoint any patterns. In a new study, researchers analyzed two khipus found in northern Chile. They were first documented during the 1970s.
One of them is the largest khipu ever discovered. It is more than 16 feet long and contains over 1,800 cords. The other khipu has nearly 600 cords arranged in a complicated manner.
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Both khipus used red and white cords to divide groups into 10 or seven. The larger khipu was separated into groups of 10.
Each group had seven cords. The smaller khipu was split into seven groups, with each group containing 10 cords.
After studying the khipus in depth, the researchers realized that the smaller khipu was a summary of the information presented in the larger khipu.
Both of them recorded the same data but represented it differently. To date, this is the most complex numerical connection between khipus ever found.
The numbers in these khipus were counting and keeping track of something. However, it is unclear what that may have been.
The researchers speculate that the larger khipu recorded the collection of different amounts of food crops from the community.
Meanwhile, the smaller one could be a record of how the food was distributed between those in need or within storehouses.
It is believed that only a handful of the khipus constructed throughout history have survived because the cultures that used them became obsolete or came up with other methods of record-keeping after the Spanish conquest. Or, the climate was just not ideal for the preservation of textiles.
Today, around 1,600 khipus remain. Most of them are preserved in collections in the Americas and Europe.
The findings were published in the Journal of the Institute of Andean Studies.
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