Quipu (/ ˈkiːpuː / KEE-poo), also spelled khipu (Ayacucho Quechua: kipu, [ˈkipu]; Cusco Quechua: khipu, [kʰipu]), are record-keeping devices fashioned from knotted cords. They were …

The Quipu was a tool used by the Incas - and earlier societies - for record keeping and accounting. The word Quipu comes from Quechua [written: khipu] and means knot.

May 8, 2014 · A quipu (khipu) was a method used by the Incas and other ancient Andean cultures to keep records and communicate information using string and knots. In the absence of an …

A quipu is an accounting apparatus used by Andean peoples from 2500 BCE, especially during the Inca empire of the 15th and 16th centuries. It consisted of a long textile cord (called a top, …

Oct 9, 2023 · Instead of using paper, stone, wood, or any known form of writing, the Incas developed a system using specially woven cords with branching structures and knots called …

Nov 8, 2011 · Quipus (kee-poo), sometimes called talking knots, were recording devices used by the Inka Empire, the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The word quipu comes from …

Jun 10, 2025 · Quipu is the Spanish form of the Inca (Quechua language) word khipu (also spelled quipo), a unique form of ancient communication and information storage used by the …

What the Inka did use was the khipu (or quipu in Spanish), a knotted string record-keeping device, leading some people to ask: what really is writing anyway? Inka khipus are bundles of woolen …

Quipu, which was the Quechua word for "knot", consisted of a primary horizontal cord from which multiple pendant cords hung, each tied with knots placed carefully.

Quipus tell a story that is no less important: They were critical instruments of factotums and bureaucrats, an imperial language of record-keeping that helped tally censuses and tribute …