Latest news with #khipus
The Independent
5 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Hair found in Inca device could change what's known about medieval civilisation
A hair strand uncovered from an Incan astronomical device suggests record-keeping in the empire was prevalent not only among elite individuals but also practiced by commoners. The finding, published in the journal Science Advances, changes what's known about numerical literacy among people in the medieval civilisation. Incas used knotted-string devices called khipus to maintain records, especially numerical information. These devices consisted of a main cord with numerous pendant cords attached, encoding information via the use of knots, their positions, and the colours. Sometimes human hair is found wound on a khipu as a 'signature' to indicate its creator. 'Hair in the ancient Andes was a ritually powerful substance that represented the individual from whom it came,' researchers explained. Until now, Spanish colonial-era documents have hinted that only male elites made khipus. It was thought that 'khipu literacy' was not widespread outside of bureaucrats charged with keeping records. 'On the basis of primarily Spanish-language colonial chronicles, it is thought that khipus were created exclusively by male bureaucratic elites,' researchers wrote. Much later in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the production of khipus was documented even among Andean labourers, peasant farmers, and female peasants. However, the latest analysis of human hair woven into a late 15th century khipu by its creator suggests that even then low-ranking Inkas made and used khipus. This particular khipu was found at a German auction with little documentation and later dated to 1498 AD. It's main cord was made of human hair about 104 centimetrers long, folded and twisted, representing about eight years of growth, researchers say. Scientists utilised advances in chemical analysis to make simultaneous measurements of levels of different elements, including carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur, from the hair sample. They found that the person who made the device ate a commoner's diet of tubers and greens, rather than a bureaucrat's diet of meat and maize. Further analysis, measuring oxygen and hydrogen values, determined that this low-ranking commoner likely lived in present-day southern Peru or northern Chile. 'Contrary to previous assumptions, commoners in the Inka Empire apparently created Inka-style khipus as well,' scientists wrote. The study results also corroborate other recent findings that women also made these recording systems, together challenging the idea that khipu literacy was the sole domain of male elites. 'Khipu literacy in the Inka Empire may have been more inclusive and widespread than hitherto thought,' researchers concluded.
Gizmodo
6 days ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
New Details Emerge About Ancient Inca Counting Technology
The Inca were a pre-Columbian civilization whose empire sprawled along South America's Pacific Coast from the 15th to the 16th century CE. Like other Andean peoples, they used khipus (also known as quipus), an intricate cord and knot system used to record information. According to Spanish colonial-era sources, only male Inca elites could make khipus. A new study, however, challenges this widespread notion. In a paper published today in Science Advances, an international team of researchers investigated the primary cord of a khipu from around 1498 CE made from human hair. Their analysis revealed that the individual who wove their hair into the khipu ate a diet commonly associated with commoners, suggesting that a greater diversity of people used the instrument than previously thought. 'Despite recent advances in our understanding of Andean khipus, scholars know little about the specialists who created Inka khipus,' the researchers wrote in the study. 'With limited direct evidence concerning the lives of Inka khipu experts, our knowledge is based mainly on the chronicles of Spanish-language colonial observers.' Researchers believe that khipus were buried alongside their owners when they died. Unfortunately, however, the burials where experts have discovered many Inca khipus were previously looted, meaning they can no longer provide this crucial insight. As such, the team from the new study took a different approach. 'Historically, when human hair was incorporated into a khipu's primary cord, it served as a 'signature' to indicate the person who created the khipu,' the researchers explained. 'Recent advances in elemental analysis–isotope ratio mass spectrometry allowed us to undertake simultaneous carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulfur (S) measurements from a single KH0631 hair sample, revealing that this individual consumed a diet characteristic of low-ranking commoners,' they added. 'This evidence suggests that Inka commoners could be involved in creating Inka-style khipus.' Specifically, the individual in question ate tubers and greens instead of meat and corn, which was the typical Inca elite's diet. The researchers' approach also revealed that this khipu specialist, or khipukamayuqs, probably lived in modern-day southern Peru or northern Chile. These results align with the fact that in the 19th and 20th centuries, 'commoners,' such as peasant farmers, farm laborers, and female peasants, created and used khipus. What's more, it bolsters recent research as well as accounts by Felipe Guamán Poma de Ayala, a 16th-century Inca nobleman and chronicler, that women in the Inca Empire also made khipus. While the researchers admit that 'KH0631 is only one khipu,' they conclude that 'the new isotopic evidence from KH0631 suggests that khipu literacy in the Inca Empire may have been more inclusive and widespread than hitherto thought.'
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
'Deciphering these mysterious strings': How reading the Inca's knotted cords can reveal past droughts and deluges
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Five centuries ago, the Incas ruled the western half of South America with the help of a unique form of writing based on colored and knotted cords. These strings, called khipus, recorded major events, tracked economic matters, and even encoded biographies and poetry, according to the Spanish chroniclers who witnessed their use. Most khipus have knots that indicate numbers that we can "read," but we've lost the ability to interpret what those numbers mean. Recent discoveries are bringing us closer to deciphering these mysterious strings. In a remote community set high in the Peruvian Andes, my team and I have found khipus that were used by villagers to track climate change. Last year, I was invited to study the centuries-old khipus preserved in the village of Santa Leonor de Jucul in the Peruvian Andes. The 97 khipus conserved by villagers include the largest khipu in the world, which is over 68 meters long. An elderly ritual specialist, Don Lenin Margarito, told me that the khipus recorded the annual ritual offerings given at different sacred places in the surrounding landscape. Miniature pink ritual bags stuffed with coca leaves and tobacco hang from the cords, representing the sacred purpose of these ancient strings. Rather than communicating through knots, the Jucul khipus record data with different kinds of tassels. For example, a tassel made of fuzzy beige llama tails indicates that an offering was performed at the sacred lake of Paccha-cocha, high in the mountains. The fluffiness of the llama tails is like a rain cloud, Don Lenin explained, representing the fact that offerings given at Paccha-cocha are thought to bring rain. Different kinds of tassels indicate offerings made at other ritual sites, each one of which is thought to have its own effect on the local environment. Rituals involving the spirits of the dead, for instance, are thought to halt flooding. Related: Secret 'drug room' full of psychedelic 'snuff tubes' discovered at pre-Inca site in Peru If you look at one of the Jucul khipus and you see that there were a lot of offerings to Paccha-cocha that year, you know that this was a time of drought since the offerings were given to increase the rain. When speaking with community members, we learned that the khipus used to be kept in public so that they could be consulted by the elders. Andean people of the past looked at these khipus as a record of the climate, and they studied them to understand the patterns of what was going on, just as we do today. New methods for obtaining precise radiocarbon dates for khipus have been pioneered by a team headed by khipu researcher Ivan Ghezzi. Efforts are now underway to get accurate radiocarbon dates for the Jucul khipus, which will provide a chronology of these climate-based offerings. If we can chart the khipus and then date them, we will have a record of climate data from this region that was created by the local Andean people themselves. In their current state, the Jucul khipus are threatened by insects, mould and rodents. The British Museum recently granted funding to clean, preserve and display the khipus so that these precious objects from the Andean past will persevere into the future. RELATED STORIES —'An offering to energize the fields': 76 child sacrifice victims, all with their chests cut open, unearthed at burial site in Peru —73 pre-Incan mummies, some with 'false heads,' unearthed from Wari Empire in Peru —Skeletons of Incan kids buried 500 years ago found marred with smallpox There are only five villages in the Peruvian Andes where ancestral khipus are kept. These rare archives offer tantalising clues about how khipus encoded information. Research in other villages with living khipu traditions has led to breakthroughs in the significance of khipu colour patterns and phonology. Many Inka khipus possess tassels which we believe may reveal the subject matter of the associated khipu. If we could unlock the significance of the tassels on the Jucul khipus, it might allow us to interpret more precisely the meaning of Inca cords. This edited article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
