Inca. <em>Quipu</em>, 1400–1532. Cotton, camelid fiber, 13 × 37 in. (33 × 94 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. John H. Finney, 36.718. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 36.718_PS9.jpg)

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 (Photo: , 36.718_PS9.jpg)

Inca. <em>Quipu</em>, 1400–1532. Cotton, camelid fiber, 13 × 37 in. (33 × 94 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. John H. Finney, 36.718. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: , 36.718_detail_PS9.jpg)

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 (Photo: , 36.718_detail_PS9.jpg)

Inca. <em>Quipu</em>, 1400–1532. Cotton, camelid fiber, 13 × 37 in. (33 × 94 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of Dr. John H. Finney, 36.718. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.718.jpg)

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 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.718.jpg)

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 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 36.718_front_PS5.jpg)

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 (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.718_detail3.jpg)

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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.

Quipu

Arts of the Americas

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.
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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.

CULTURE Inca

MEDIUM Cotton, camelid fiber

DATES 1400–1532

PERIOD Late Horizon Period

DIMENSIONS 13 × 37 in. (33 × 94 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Arts of the Americas

ACCESSION NUMBER 36.718

CREDIT LINE Gift of Dr. John H. Finney

EXHIBITIONS

Cecilia Vicuña: Quipu desaparecido (Disappeared Quipu)

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is not on view

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 (Photo: , 36.718_PS9.jpg)

IMAGE overall, 36.718_PS9.jpg., 2018

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