GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Andean cultures did not have a recognizable written script prior to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s; however, the Inca did utilize a method of recording through knotted cords, known as quipu (khipu; “knot” in Quechua). The Nora and John Wise Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art includes nineteen quipu fragments. The quipu (khipu) have Z-spun, S-plied cords. According to Ann Rowe and Gary Urton, the Inca (Inka) generally used Z-spun and S-plied yarn in weaving textiles and within quipu.[1], [2]
[1] Textile specialist Ann Pollard Rowe is the former Curator of Western Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum, Washington, DC. Gary Urton is the Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian Studies at Harvard University, and a specialist in Andean archaeology, particularly the khipu.
[2] Gary Urton, Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003): 66.
Adapted from
- Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Inca: Conquests of the Andes / Los Incas y las conquistas de los Andes, Label text [1983.W.2174], 2015.
- Kylie Quave, PhD, DMA unpublished material, 2006.
NOTES
General description drawn from: Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Inca: Conquests of the Andes / Los Incas y las conquistas de los Andes, Label Copy (1983.W.2174), 2015; Kylie Quave, August 2006; TMS, Notes / Text Entries, Remarks.
ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS
- Andean Orthography
- The Nora and John Wise Collection of Ancient South American Art
- Textile Production in the Andes
- Andes, South America
- Camelid Fiber
- Cotton
- Inka (Inca)
- Inka (Inca) Textiles: Tapestry-Woven Cloth (Qompi)
- Inka (Inca) Carving
- Inka (Inca) Textiles - Featherwork
- Inka (Inca) Metalwork
- Inka (Inca) Ceramics
AUDIO ASSETS
VIDEO ASSETS
IMAGE ASSETS
XXXXX: UMO. [Caption] A drawing by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala from his 1615 Chronicle shows two rows of stone store-houses (qolqas). The administrator seated on the right holds a quipu, the knotted cotton cords by which the Inca recorded numerical tallies using a decimal system. Source: Carol Robbins, “An Inca Tunic,” in Dallas Museum of Art, 100 Years, ed. Dorothy M. Kosinski (Dallas, TX: Dallas Museum of Art, 2003), Pamphlet number 76.
WEB RESOURCES
- Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian~Watch a video about quipu and the Inca Empire.
- Harvard University~Learn more about quipu and the Khipu Database Project.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art~Read more about Andean Textiles.
- Wired~Read a 2007 article about the mystery of the Inca and quipu.
- The Harvard Gazette~Read an article about how Harvard student Manny Medrano '19, with guidance from Professor Gary Urton, decoded the meaning behind quipus.
- CBC Radio~Read more or listen to the original radio broadcast with Harvard student Manny Medrano and his recent discoveries about quipu.
ARCHIVAL RESOURCES
FUN FACTS
TEACHING IDEAS
RULES
SET OPERATOR AS OR
apply to OBJECTS where title contains khipu
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1983.W.2174
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1989.W.2471
apply to OBJECTS where number equals 1989.W.2472
Category
rules_operator
OR
General Description
Andean cultures did not have a recognizable written script prior to the Spanish conquest in the early 1530s; however, the Inca did utilize a method of recording through knotted cords, known as quipu (khipu; “knot” in Quechua). The Nora and John Wise Collection at the Dallas Museum of Art includes nineteen quipu fragments. The quipu (khipu) have Z-spun, S-plied cords. According to Ann Rowe and Gary Urton, the Inca (Inka) generally used Z-spun and S-plied yarn in weaving textiles and within quipu.[1], [2]
[1] Textile specialist Ann Pollard Rowe is the former Curator of Western Hemisphere Collections at The Textile Museum, Washington, DC. Gary Urton is the Dumbarton Oaks Professor of Pre-Columbian Studies at Harvard University, and a specialist in Andean archaeology, particularly the khipu.
[2] Gary Urton, Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 2003): 66.
Adapted from
- Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Inca: Conquests of the Andes / Los Incas y las conquistas de los Andes, Label text [1983.W.2174], 2015.
- Kylie Quave, PhD, DMA unpublished material, 2006.
Fun Facts
Archival Resources
Web Resources
- Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian~Watch a video about quipu and the Inca Empire.
- Harvard University~Learn more about quipu and the Khipu Database Project.
- The Metropolitan Museum of Art~Read more about Andean Textiles.
- Wired~Read a 2007 article about the mystery of the Inca and quipu.
- The Harvard Gazette~Read an article about how Harvard student Manny Medrano '19, with guidance from Professor Gary Urton, decoded the meaning behind quipus.
- CBC Radio~Read more or listen to the original radio broadcast with Harvard student Manny Medrano and his recent discoveries about quipu.
Notes
General description drawn from: Kimberly L. Jones, PhD, Inca: Conquests of the Andes / Los Incas y las conquistas de los Andes, Label Copy (1983.W.2174), 2015; Kylie Quave, August 2006; TMS, Notes / Text Entries, Remarks.
source file
dma_insight-0057.xml.nores