The Inca transmitted complex knowledge across their empire using Quipu — a system of knotted cords that encoded data through color, knot types, and string arrangement. They recorded calculations and information without any formal written language. The Inca had a decimal numerical system, and Quipu served as their recording and calculation device — effectively functioning as a portable, knot-based database for administrative and census data across the empire.
Inca used Quipu knots for calculations without writing
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Key facts
- Inca spread unrepeatable stoneworking knowledge far and wide without any form of writing
- They relied only on Quipu, a tapestry abacus system of knots in threads
- The Inca and their descendants used Quipu for calculations despite having no numbers
- Pythagoras theorized the Pythagorean theorem without numbers, which did not appear in Europe for another 1000 years
Site mentioned
Sources
The Inka khipu - Smarthistorysmarthistory.org
Inka khipus are bundles of woolen cords tied together with knots added to them to encode information. Some are all a natural beige cotton color.
Knots That Remember: How the Inca Recorded a Civilization ...uslanguageservices.com
Trace the story of quipus and learn how color, knots, and texture carried data without writing in the Inca world.
Quipus, The Inca Language of Knotsneh.gov
Tied into the pendant cords are a variety of knots that, depending on their type and position, encode various pieces of information, including values from a ...
Quipu - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
The Inca, in particular, used knots tied in a decimal positional system to store numbers and other values in quipu cords. Depending on use and the amount of ...
Quipu | Smithsonian Institutionsi.edu
Quipus (kee-poo), sometimes called talking knots, were recording devices used by the Inka Empire, the largest empire in pre-Columbian ...
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