Quipu
1 of 8
Object Label
This large, impressive quipu is purported to have been discovered in a burial at the coastal site of Ancon, near Lima, Peru. The random appearance of the cords and knots indicates that it is a narrative quipu, a less common type than the administrative ones. Both quipu forms were in contemporaneous use because they conveyed different kinds of information.
Narrative quipus differ in construction from the standard decimal-format type by having thickly spun, Z-plied cords; an array of pendant and subsidiary cords in a variety of colors; and a profusion of knots placed seemingly at random rather than in separate, decimal-valued tiers.
___________
Este impresionante quipu fue descubierto posiblemente en una sepultura en el área de la costa de Ancón, cerca de Lima, Perú. El aspecto aleatorio de las cuerdas y los nudos, indica que se trata de un quipu narrativo, un tipo de quipu menos común que los administrativos. Ambas clases de quipus se usaban contemporáneamente puesto que transmitían diferentes tipos de información.
La construcción de los quipus narrativos se diferencia del tipo estándar de formato decimal debido a sus gruesas cuerdas hiladas en Z; una serie de cuerdas colgantes y subsidiarias en una variedad de colores; y una profusión de nudos ubicados de modo aparentemente aleatorio, en lugar de tener hileras de valor decimal separadas.
Caption
Inca. Quipu, 1400–1532. Cotton, camelid fiber, 13 × 37 in. (33 × 94 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. John H. Finney, 36.718. Creative Commons-BY
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Gallery
Not on view
Collection
Culture
Title
Quipu
Date
1400–1532
Period
Late Horizon Period
Medium
Cotton, camelid fiber
Classification
Dimensions
13 × 37 in. (33 × 94 cm)
Credit Line
Gift of Dr. John H. Finney
Accession Number
36.718
Rights
Creative Commons-BY
You may download and use Brooklyn Museum images of this three-dimensional work in accordance with a Creative Commons license. Fair use, as understood under the United States Copyright Act, may also apply. Please include caption information from this page and credit the Brooklyn Museum. If you need a high resolution file, please fill out our online application form (charges apply). For further information about copyright, we recommend resources at the United States Library of Congress, Cornell University, Copyright and Cultural Institutions: Guidelines for U.S. Libraries, Archives, and Museums, and Copyright Watch. For more information about the Museum's rights project, including how rights types are assigned, please see our blog posts on copyright. If you have any information regarding this work and rights to it, please contact copyright@brooklynmuseum.org.
Frequent Art Questions
What do these quipu say? What did they kept track of?
Well the historical quipu, used by the Inca and other ancient Andean cultures could be used to record information. They are separated into two broad categories, Administrative and Narrative.Administrative quipus kept track of things like census or tax information whereas Narrative quipus are thought to record information like stories, genealogies, even poetry!Although a lot of information regarding how to read quipus is lost, Scholars are closest to understanding administrative quipus. The different kinds of knots and the location where they are tied on the strings are representative of numbers!Excellent. Thank you!You're welcome!Does the quipu convey principally numbers (dates, ages, distances, quantities, etc.) or also narrative information regarding history within the Andean corpus of knowledge?
Both, actually. Early scholars thought that the knots could only record numbers, but further analysis makes it very clear that some quipu include much more information including stories, genealogies, and even poetry.
Have information?
Have information about an artwork? Contact us at