Quipus are constructions made of knotted strings in different colours that recorded numbers and possibly words (in abbreviated, coded form) as well. They were used in the Incan kingdom that stretched over most of the western portion of South America from the 12th C - 16th C CE.
Incan culture used a base 10 system in their numerical notation and calculation, and base ten was also very important in the administration of the empire. (For example, each leader on a particular level of the imperial administration was responsible for 10 sub-units of administration beneath them.)
Accounting and communications were difficult in the mountainous terrain of this Andean empire, and very limited use was made of pack animals (llamas, for example). Runners carried most messages, and would have to traverse steep rocky terrain and rope suspension bridges in all kinds of weather.
Quipu were portable and fairly durable in these conditions (where, for example, paper, stone engravings or clay tablets would not be as well adapted to this place).
Different colours were used to code different numbers and topics. The handspun rope was traditionally made of cotton or llama wool and dyed different colours. This rope was likely spun and plied using drop spindles; I have made us some main cords from dried day lily and other leaves using a slightly different method, which I can teach people outside of the workshop. Incan quipu makers also twisted two colours together in a barber-pole style to identify distinctive parts of the records or calculations.
Some excellent sources for learning about quipu:
Ascher & Ascher's classic book, Code of the Quipu
The Harvard Quipu Database Project
National Endowment for the Humanities brief piece on quipu
Incan culture used a base 10 system in their numerical notation and calculation, and base ten was also very important in the administration of the empire. (For example, each leader on a particular level of the imperial administration was responsible for 10 sub-units of administration beneath them.)
Accounting and communications were difficult in the mountainous terrain of this Andean empire, and very limited use was made of pack animals (llamas, for example). Runners carried most messages, and would have to traverse steep rocky terrain and rope suspension bridges in all kinds of weather. Quipu were portable and fairly durable in these conditions (where, for example, paper, stone engravings or clay tablets would not be as well adapted to this place).
Different colours were used to code different numbers and topics. The handspun rope was traditionally made of cotton or llama wool and dyed different colours. This rope was likely spun and plied using drop spindles; I have made us some main cords from dried day lily and other leaves using a slightly different method, which I can teach people outside of the workshop. Incan quipu makers also twisted two colours together in a barber-pole style to identify distinctive parts of the records or calculations.
Some excellent sources for learning about quipu:
Ascher & Ascher's classic book, Code of the Quipu
The Harvard Quipu Database Project
National Endowment for the Humanities brief piece on quipu
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