Issue 8 |

Counting the threads of time: The Khipus of the Incas

by on September 20, 2016

 

The cold and windswept Andean highlands are an unlikely place for humans to live in, much less build an advanced civilisation that would turn out to arguably be the most successful in all of the pre-Columbian Americas. In only a hundred years, the Incas managed to forge an empire that at its largest extent was bigger than modern-day France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, and Poland combined, stretching from Colombia in the North to Chile in the South, and ruling over an estimated 12 million people with diverse cultures and languages. Amazingly, the Incas did all this without the wheel, the use of iron or steel, or a written language, which were once thought to be indispensable for empire building in the so-called Old World. In spite of all this success, this great Incan empire vanished almost as quickly as it expanded, conquered by rapacious and ruthless Spanish conquistadors looking for gold and to spread the word of their god.

khipus 1

A Khipukamayuq, a professional Incan khipu weaver and decipherer, displaying a khipu (Source)

Given that they had no written language, most of what we know of the Incas come from Spanish records, which detailed their way of life, architecture, and other achievements through a distinctly colonial lens. However, historians and archaeologists are currently beginning to unearth the fascinating ways in which the Incas managed their vast empire, most importantly the use of unique Khipus (Quipus in Spanish) which were complex knotted instruments made from spun threads, in order to transmit information in a wholly innovative manner unheard of and unseen in other parts of the world.

Writing: Legacy of the Mesopotamians and the Chinese (and some Mesoamericans)

khipus 2

Two systems? Writing on the right and Khipus in the illustration on the left (Source)

Most, if not all, readers would be familiar with the various writing systems currently used in Asia, Europe, and Africa, ranging from alphabets such as Latin and Cyrillic, logographs as exemplified by Chinese characters, and abugidas as used in Arabic and Hebrew. However, in spite of their diversity, all of these descend from the writing systems developed either by the Mesopotamians around present day Iraq, or the Chinese, around the Yellow River valley in northern China. In the Americas, only the Mesoamericans, who were people living in Central America, including the Maya and the Olmecs, developed writing (unfortunately, records of this have also been destroyed by the Spanish). All of the aforementioned systems are two dimensional representations of verbal speech, which could be stored and transmitted again long after the initial words were spoken by someone.

It is generally agreed by historians and archaeologists that writing first arose from the need to keep accounting records of transactions in a complex society, which was only beginning to take root after humans settled and developed agriculture. From noting down how many cows Naram-Sin owed Liu Shen, the type of information encoded in the writing gradually became more intricate, such that by the time of the Egyptians and Greeks, poetry was able to be written down and appreciated far and wide. But what about the Incas?

Inca unwritten, but spun?

That the Incas never developed written language has perplexed many an anthropologist and historian, as such complex empires usually needed a way of storing and transmitting information to coordinate the day-to-day administration of the society. The Incas, however, were not completely devoid of such mechanisms.

Khipus, popularly termed “talking knots”, were long thought to be accounting tools, as they resembled abacuses in their structure and use. Khipus were made of a group of cotton or alpaca wool threads of different colours spun or knotted together. A single khipu might contain up to 2,000 threads and many more knots, and the method of tying these knots as well as their relative positions could encode different bits of information, which meant that khipus could store and display this in 3 dimensions.

khipus 3

An intuitive system (Source)

Inca nobility were taught how to read khipus in their educational institutions, but because of the array of ways in which information could be presented in khipus, professionals called Khipukamayuqs were also employed by the Inca state to specially create and decipher the knots and threads.

From Spanish records, Khipus were understood to have been used extensively in the empire. There are numerous reports of them being used in Inca colcas, or state-run warehouses, to keep track of the number of crops and reserves that were available for distribution (the Inca state having practiced an early form of a centrally planned economy). Khipus were also known to have been used to record the annual mit’a (tax) obligations of citizens, who contributed labour and skills in place of money, which the Incas also did not use.

khipus 4

Khipukamayuqs making records with their khipus (Source)

As khipus were mostly found to have been used to record numerical information (e.g. quantity, size), researchers initially believed that they were merely used for accounting, or as mnemonic devices to assist in recalling certain facts, but did not contain complex ideas in and of themselves. However, in 2005, a report in the journal Science by anthropologist Gary Urton and mathematician Carrie J. Brezine noted that one particular khipu had a series of knots at its start which did not correspond to any number, but seemed to be a unique signifier whose meaning has yet to be identified. According to Dr Urton’s research, one of the likely answers was that it represented the name of the place where the khipu came from, a village near Lima called Puruchuco.

Extrapolating from this, Dr Urton postulated that khipus contained a form of binary code which was capable not only of encoding numbers, but also complex ideas and concepts: in other words, a three-dimensional system to record language that went beyond two-dimensional writing. This was a very controversial idea, but there were Spanish records to support Dr Urton’s position: some Spaniards had noted that a group of Khipukamayuqs had previously been convened to decipher and tell the Incas’ extensive history from the khipus that they had. A Spanish priest had also recounted that a group of Spaniards had come across an Inca man, who quickly hid his khipus from view when he was encountered. When interrogated, the man confessed that his khipus had recorded all the atrocities and massacres that the Spaniards had inflicted upon the Incas, and that the world was going to see their sins laid bare. Incensed, the Spaniards proceeded to burn his khipus, along with countless others throughout the empire. In doing so, they ensured that the khipu system would never be passed down to future Incas and that the full range of secrets of the khipus, including whether they did indeed encode language, would long be hidden from modern eyes.

Regaining the lost wisdom of the Incas

khipus 5

The Milky Way, or Mayu, was an important part of Inca cosmology, seen as the gateway to the underworld, “travelled by spirits, deities, and shamans in trance” (Bahnhart, 1994) (Source)

In spite of, and maybe even due to, all that has been lost, archaeologists, anthropologists, and historians are still working feverishly to gain a better understanding of the full range of information that khipus contained, and to confirm if khipus indeed were a means to communicate. Peru has a wealth of ancient monuments, sites, and artifacts that may yet show just how advanced the Incas were, perhaps making use of their superior knowledge of textiles and their singular obsession with weaving to develop a corollary to writing that did not even occur to the minds of those we usually consider the pioneers of our modern civilisation. Who knows: maybe one day the tales that Mother Llama told to Baby Llama as they trundled through the life-giving Mayu (or Milky Way) may finally be rediscovered, long after they were left ensconced in the amazing khipus of the Incas.


Further Reading

Ancientscripts.com. (N.D.) Quipu. Retrieved from http://www.ancientscripts.com/quipu.html

Bahnhart, Edwin L. (1994). The Milky Way as the path to the underworld: A comparison of pre-Columbian New World cultures. Palenque, Mexico: Maya Exploration Centre.

Mann, Charles C. (2003). Cracking the Khipu Code. Science, 300, pp. 1650-1651. Retrieved from http://www.charlesmann.org/articles/Khipu-Science.pdf

Urton, Gary. (2003). Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press.

Wilford, John N. (2003). String and Knot, Theory of Inca Writing.  Retrieved from http://www.ee.ryerson.ca/~elf/abacus/inca-khipu.html

97 Responses to “The Khipus of the Incas”

  1. Great post. I used to be checking always this weblog and I am impressed. Very useful info, Specially the last time I take care of such information a lot. I wish to advise you some interesting things or tips. I used to be looking for this positive information for a long time. Thanks and good luck. I wish for to read more things about it.

    Reply
  2. Writing a critical thinking essay actually means making a critical decision and defending it. If you have pending essays on critical thinking that are due soon, then be ready to engage in a lengthy and productive decision making process.

    Reply
  3. alice grey

    If you see that you have no time for writing papers then it’s better to apply to the essay writing service where you can find useful information about writing different papers. Such help you can find at the https://essaywritingstore.com/

    Reply
  4. Chirurgiens esthétique Tunisie

    […]Every when inside a while we choose blogs that we study. Listed beneath would be the most current internet sites that we opt for […]

    Reply
  5. National Chi Nan University

    […]although sites we backlink to beneath are considerably not associated to ours, we feel they are actually really worth a go by, so have a look[…]

    Reply
  6. fue gallery

    […]Sites of interest we have a link to[…]

    Reply
  7. Higher education

    […]the time to study or take a look at the subject material or web pages we’ve linked to below the[…]

    Reply
  8. برنامج المالية بجامعة المستقبل بمصر

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nonetheless definitely really worth taking a appear, whoa did one discover about Mid East has got more problerms as well […]

    Reply
  9. 21st Century workforce development

    […]Here are a few of the internet sites we recommend for our visitors[…]

    Reply
  10. Course Add/Drop Policy

    […]The facts talked about inside the write-up are several of the very best offered […]

    Reply
  11. fue

    […]one of our visitors recently suggested the following website[…]

    Reply
  12. future unversity in egypt news

    […]very handful of web-sites that occur to become in depth below, from our point of view are undoubtedly very well worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  13. International student admissions to future university

    […]here are some links to web pages that we link to for the reason that we assume they’re worth visiting[…]

    Reply
  14. متطلبات كشف الدرجات لجامعة المستقبل

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated information, nonetheless really worth taking a look, whoa did one master about Mid East has got additional problerms also […]

    Reply
  15. https://www.kooky.domains/post/key-features-of-web3-domains

    […]just beneath, are numerous totally not related websites to ours, nonetheless, they’re surely worth going over[…]

    Reply
  16. دورات الماحسبة بجامعة المستقبل بمصر

    […]one of our guests lately proposed the following website[…]

    Reply
  17. Character building

    […]although sites we backlink to below are considerably not connected to ours, we really feel they are really worth a go by means of, so have a look[…]

    Reply
  18. ملاحظة ترحيب لكلية الصيدلة

    […]here are some hyperlinks to web pages that we link to mainly because we think they’re really worth visiting[…]

    Reply
  19. Global Impact

    […]the time to read or check out the content material or web-sites we’ve linked to below the[…]

    Reply
  20. IT Management

    […]just beneath, are a lot of totally not related websites to ours, on the other hand, they may be surely worth going over[…]

    Reply
  21. future unversity in egypt news

    […]that is the end of this post. Right here you’ll locate some internet sites that we consider you will value, just click the hyperlinks over[…]

    Reply
  22. Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology

    […]that will be the end of this write-up. Here you’ll find some web pages that we feel you’ll value, just click the links over[…]

    Reply
  23. Maillot de football

    […]we prefer to honor quite a few other internet web pages around the internet, even though they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Under are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  24. Maillot de football

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated information, nevertheless truly really worth taking a search, whoa did one particular study about Mid East has got more problerms also […]

    Reply
  25. Maillot de football

    […]below you will locate the link to some web-sites that we feel you’ll want to visit[…]

    Reply
  26. SEOSolutionVIP Fiverr

    […]usually posts some quite fascinating stuff like this. If you are new to this site[…]

    Reply
  27. tirage vertical

    […]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[…]

    Reply
  28. puppies french bulldog

    […]very few internet websites that occur to be comprehensive beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly properly really worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  29. ddkc

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine several unrelated data, nonetheless seriously really worth taking a search, whoa did one particular find out about Mid East has got a lot more problerms as well […]

    Reply
  30. vacation rental isla mujeres

    […]below you will discover the link to some web-sites that we assume you should visit[…]

    Reply
  31. Climate-Controlled Piano Storage

    […]check below, are some absolutely unrelated websites to ours, even so, they are most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Reply
  32. isabella merle french bulldog

    […]usually posts some extremely interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[…]

    Reply
  33. bitcoin

    […]very few sites that take place to become detailed beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly well worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  34. phone repair

    […]very couple of websites that occur to become detailed beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly properly really worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  35. french bulldog texas for sale

    […]please stop by the web-sites we adhere to, including this one particular, because it represents our picks through the web[…]

    Reply
  36. future university

    […]Every as soon as inside a whilst we opt for blogs that we study. Listed beneath would be the most up-to-date websites that we choose […]

    Reply
  37. future university

    […]check beneath, are some completely unrelated internet websites to ours, on the other hand, they may be most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Reply
  38. slot nexus

    […]here are some links to websites that we link to because we feel they’re worth visiting[…]

    Reply
  39. what is seo

    […]here are some links to internet sites that we link to simply because we feel they’re worth visiting[…]

    Reply
  40. Fiverr

    […]check beneath, are some totally unrelated websites to ours, having said that, they’re most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Reply
  41. Fiverr.Com

    […]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[…]

    Reply
  42. grey frenchie

    […]very handful of internet sites that occur to become detailed below, from our point of view are undoubtedly effectively really worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  43. golf cart rental isla mujeres

    […]The info talked about within the post are some of the ideal readily available […]

    Reply
  44. FUE

    […]Every as soon as inside a although we choose blogs that we study. Listed beneath would be the most recent internet sites that we pick […]

    Reply
  45. FUE

    […]please go to the web-sites we comply with, which includes this 1, as it represents our picks in the web[…]

    Reply
  46. FiverrEarn

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated information, nevertheless genuinely really worth taking a look, whoa did a single find out about Mid East has got much more problerms as well […]

    Reply
  47. FiverrEarn

    […]that will be the end of this article. Right here you’ll uncover some websites that we assume you’ll appreciate, just click the links over[…]

    Reply
  48. FiverrEarn

    […]just beneath, are a lot of absolutely not connected web-sites to ours, nevertheless, they may be certainly really worth going over[…]

    Reply
  49. FiverrEarn

    […]we came across a cool internet site that you might get pleasure from. Take a search for those who want[…]

    Reply
  50. … [Trackback]

    […] Find More here on that Topic: unravellingmag.com/articles/the-khipus-of-the-incas/ […]

    Reply
  51. Unisex On-Demand Print Shop

    […]below you’ll discover the link to some web sites that we think you must visit[…]

    Reply
  52. Betting tips

    […]just beneath, are several entirely not connected web sites to ours, nonetheless, they may be certainly worth going over[…]

    Reply
  53. FiverrEarn

    […]The facts mentioned in the write-up are some of the ideal obtainable […]

    Reply
  54. FiverrEarn

    […]we like to honor many other online internet sites around the internet, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Below are some webpages really worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  55. FiverrEarn

    […]The information talked about in the article are some of the very best obtainable […]

    Reply
  56. french bulldog dallas

    […]here are some hyperlinks to sites that we link to for the reason that we think they may be worth visiting[…]

    Reply
  57. FiverrEarn

    […]The information and facts mentioned inside the article are a few of the most beneficial accessible […]

    Reply
  58. FiverrEarn

    […]very few internet sites that occur to become comprehensive below, from our point of view are undoubtedly very well worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  59. FiverrEarn

    […]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[…]

    Reply
  60. FiverrEarn

    […]The facts talked about in the report are several of the best available […]

    Reply
  61. FiverrEarn

    […]The data mentioned within the write-up are several of the best accessible […]

    Reply
  62. FiverrEarn

    […]always a huge fan of linking to bloggers that I enjoy but really don’t get a good deal of link appreciate from[…]

    Reply
  63. FiverrEarn

    […]usually posts some pretty interesting stuff like this. If you’re new to this site[…]

    Reply
  64. A2 Ghee

    […]just beneath, are various absolutely not connected internet sites to ours, on the other hand, they are surely worth going over[…]

    Reply
  65. Scientific Research

    […]usually posts some pretty interesting stuff like this. If you are new to this site[…]

    Reply
  66. Kuliah Termurah

    […]we came across a cool web site that you just could possibly love. Take a look should you want[…]

    Reply
  67. FiverrEarn

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated information, nonetheless definitely worth taking a look, whoa did 1 discover about Mid East has got more problerms too […]

    Reply
  68. FiverrEarn

    […]just beneath, are many entirely not related web-sites to ours, however, they’re surely really worth going over[…]

    Reply
  69. FiverrEarn

    […]the time to study or stop by the material or websites we have linked to below the[…]

    Reply
  70. Generator repair Yorkshire

    […]here are some links to web-sites that we link to due to the fact we assume they are worth visiting[…]

    Reply
  71. cheap sex cams

    […]The information mentioned in the article are a few of the very best obtainable […]

    Reply
  72. fullersears.com

    […]Here is a good Weblog You might Find Exciting that we Encourage You[…]

    Reply
  73. dehydrated water

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a handful of unrelated data, nevertheless actually really worth taking a look, whoa did a single learn about Mid East has got additional problerms also […]

    Reply
  74. Freeze dried candy Canada

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine a few unrelated data, nonetheless genuinely really worth taking a search, whoa did one particular discover about Mid East has got a lot more problerms also […]

    Reply
  75. Litigio fiscal

    […]we came across a cool internet site that you simply might get pleasure from. Take a search for those who want[…]

    Reply
  76. Seo Work

    […]Every after in a while we choose blogs that we study. Listed below would be the most current web pages that we decide on […]

    Reply
  77. Agen judi online

    […]Here are several of the web pages we suggest for our visitors[…]

    Reply
  78. One Peace AMV

    […]Here are a few of the sites we advise for our visitors[…]

    Reply
  79. nangs near me

    […]very handful of websites that come about to become in depth beneath, from our point of view are undoubtedly properly worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  80. superslot

    […]Wonderful story, reckoned we could combine some unrelated information, nevertheless actually really worth taking a appear, whoa did one particular study about Mid East has got extra problerms too […]

    Reply
  81. mobile app developer

    […]usually posts some incredibly exciting stuff like this. If you are new to this site[…]

    Reply
  82. 918kiss

    […]we like to honor quite a few other net web-sites around the net, even when they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Underneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  83. หวย24

    […]we came across a cool internet site which you may love. Take a look if you want[…]

    Reply
  84. Makeup tutorials

    […]we came across a cool website that you just could possibly get pleasure from. Take a look in the event you want[…]

    Reply
  85. french bulldog in clothes

    […]just beneath, are various totally not related web pages to ours, nevertheless, they are surely really worth going over[…]

    Reply
  86. pg slot

    […]just beneath, are many totally not connected internet sites to ours, having said that, they are surely worth going over[…]

    Reply
  87. regles 421

    […]below you will come across the link to some websites that we consider it is best to visit[…]

    Reply
  88. cybersécurité

    […]we prefer to honor quite a few other online web sites on the web, even if they aren’t linked to us, by linking to them. Underneath are some webpages worth checking out[…]

    Reply
  89. download aplikasi slot online

    […]just beneath, are various absolutely not related internet sites to ours, having said that, they may be certainly worth going over[…]

    Reply
  90. Dating Classes

    […]just beneath, are several absolutely not associated web pages to ours, on the other hand, they may be certainly worth going over[…]

    Reply
  91. upstate hotels

    […]just beneath, are various totally not related web-sites to ours, nonetheless, they are surely really worth going over[…]

    Reply
  92. weight loss drops

    […]although internet sites we backlink to below are considerably not associated to ours, we really feel they may be really really worth a go by means of, so possess a look[…]

    Reply
  93. 3 408 cheytac

    […]below you’ll locate the link to some web sites that we consider you ought to visit[…]

    Reply
  94. contratar sicario

    […]one of our guests not too long ago recommended the following website[…]

    Reply
  95. itsMasum.Com

    […]check beneath, are some absolutely unrelated web sites to ours, nonetheless, they’re most trustworthy sources that we use[…]

    Reply
  96. itsMasum.Com

    […]Sites of interest we’ve a link to[…]

    Reply
  97. nang tanks

    […]one of our guests recently encouraged the following website[…]

    Reply

Leave a Comment