When we talk about technological tools, many people may think that we are referring to complicated machines, intelligent devices, or any other artifact that we are used to today. In pre-Hispanic America, the most advanced civilizations on the continent had extremely complex, practical, and compelling technological tools. One of them was the quipu used by the Incas.

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What is a quipu?

The quipu, which in Quechua, the official language of the Incas, means the knot, consists of a certain number of ropes of different colors and knots that were used for efficient and specific purposes.

In general, it consists of a central horizontal rope, from which several ropes of different colors are in a vertical position, with knots of various shapes according to very complex established patterns. These ropes were made with cotton fibers or the fur of some animals, such as guanacos, llamas, vicuñas, and alpacas.

Quipu: The Secret Language of Incan Knots | TreXperience
Quipu sample

What are quipus used for?

This is a system that the administration of the Inca Empire used to record accounting information. The distance between the knots and the colors of the strings allowed precise information to be obtained about each registered population and the objects being recorded.

Based on decimal order, up to tens of thousands of units could be recorded. This allowed us to distinguish whether they referred to women or men, to a specific population, and to the type of productive activity.

The quipu and its history

The origin of the quipu dates back to the middle of the first millennium of the Christian era. For a long time, it was believed that the quipu was created by the amauta (wise man and teacher) Illac in the days when Mayta Capac governed the Inca Empire in the 14th century of our era.

What is certain is that this pre-Inca invention was taken and perfected by the Incas. Some sources from scholars of pre-Hispanic populations in America indicate the possibility that it was already used around 2,500 years before Christ.

But the most consistent evidence of its origin and use was during the Huari or Wari empire, whose center was in the city of Huari, which is now part of Peruvian territory.

Quipu: The Secret Language of Incan Knots | TreXperience
The quipus allowed the Incas to keep track of production across the Empire. Illustrations by Guaman Poma de Ayala.

›› Read More: The Language of the Incas

How is a quipu interpreted?

Scholars' rigorous research on the Inca civilization managed to reconstruct the content of the quipus's coding. The direction and location of the knots, according to their twist and the colors of the strings, constitute the main element for their interpretation.

The strings to record figures had a knot and a specific location in accordance with the hierarchical order of the production units according to the region of the Inca empire. At the end of each string, the quantities were recorded by knots, and even from zero, so that large numbers could be represented on said strings.

This series of knots was also given information about the color, width, length, and distance between knots and strings. The reading was done from right to left of the main string. The position and number of knots gave the information in quantitative terms, and, in turn, the colors indicated the type of object that was represented.

It is a fairly complex but exact and useful system that was only handled by people who specialized in making and using it to improve the empire's administrative functioning.

Quipu reading - The Secret Language of Incan Knots | TreXperience
Quipu know system.

Who were the expert readers of the quipus?

These instruments with an alphanumeric code were made and handled by specialists or quipucamayos in Quechua. They were the administrators of the Inca empire, and they were only able to decipher them and be authorized to enunciate their contents.

Inca costume - Quipus: The Secret Language of Incas Knots
Quipukamayoc holding a quipu at the Inti Raymi Festival. Foto by Peru Travel.

 


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