Quipu

Quipu
Quipu
	Close up of a quipu cords and knots.
Type	Undeciphered
Time period	c. 800 CE – c. 1900 CE
	Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode.

Quipu are ancient Andean tools for recording information. They were most famously used by the Inca Empire.

Quipu are made from colored strings which are knotted in different ways. The strings are usually made from cotton or camelid fiber. The knots tied on quipu strings are often used to encode numbers.

The word "quipu" comes from a Quechua word meaning 'knot' or 'to knot'.^[1]

Quipu Media

Quipu in the Cleveland Museum of Art in Cleveland, Ohio.
A quipucamayoc depicted in El primer nueva corónica y buen gobierno. A yupana, an Inca calculating device, is also visible in the lower left.
Representation of a quipu (1890)

References

↑ Urton, Gary (2003). Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records. University of Texas Press. doi:10.7560/785397. ISBN 978-0-292-78539-7.

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[1] Urton, Gary (2003). Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records. University of Texas Press. doi:10.7560/785397. ISBN 978-0-292-78539-7.

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