For millennia, ancient peoples of the Andes created quipus—complex record-keeping devices, made of knotted cords, that served as an essential medium for reading and writing and for registering and remembering. In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month we’ll be sharing examples of this ancient Andean tradition that are currently on view alongside Cecilia Vicuña’s site-specific installation, Disappeared Quipu. Follow along over the next few weeks and visit the Museum to learn more about their history, construction, use, and technique.
This large, impressive quipu is purported to have been discovered in a burial at the coastal site of Ancon, near Lima, Peru. The random appearance of the cords and knots indicates that it is a narrative quipu, a less common type than the administrative ones. Both quipu forms were in contemporaneous use because they conveyed different kinds of information. Narrative quipus differ in construction from the standard decimal-format type by having thickly spun, Z-plied cords; an array of pendant and subsidiary cords in a variety of colors; and a profusion of knots placed seemingly at random rather than in separate, decimal-valued tiers.
Inca quipu-maker (khipukamayuq). Narrative Quipu, 1400–1532. Reportedly found at the site of Ancon, Central Coast, Peru. Cotton, camelid fiber. Brooklyn Museum; Gift of Dr. John H. Finney, 36.718
