From ancient times, people who could not read or write used
knotted strings to keep records. For the Hebrew people of the
Bible, knots served as memory devices. Roman tax-gatherers in
Palestine kept records of their receipts on knotted cords. This
use of knots has also been reported in Germany, India, and China.
Some of the most striking records of this sort were the quipus
compiled by the Inca, South American Indians who governed what is
today Peru and part of Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina.
The Incas, who were conquered by Spanish troops in the sixteenth century, were efficient rulers. But they had no written language. According to Spanish reports, the Inca used quipus to keep accounts of taxes paid in various forms (i.e. as gold or sheep), to keep a census of the population, and to assist in recalling past events. The quipu had a main cord, held horizontally, to which several hanging cords were attached. Knots were tied in the hanging cords at regular intervals. The shape of the knot indicated the digit a knot represented (1, 2, 3, etc.), while its distance from the main cord indicated its place value (ones, tens, hundreds, etc.). The color of the cord might indicate the kind of person or object represented.
Several quipu found in Inca graves were brought to the United States and to Europe. The quipu shown in the photograph was found in the Nasca Valley in Peru and given to the Smithsonain in the early twentieth century. It is a complex record, with several dozen strings. The hanging cords are not all tied to one main cord, but branch. This quipu is made from cotton and bast fibers; others were made from wool. It is now in the collections of the National Museum of Natural History.
References: Ascher & Ascher (1978), Ascher & Ascher (1981), Locke (1923), NMNH Collections, Williams.
Rev. 11/20/95