Why did the Inkas choose to record information on colorful knotted strings -- the khipus -- rather than in writing? What are the major features and patterns of the 1,050 khipus that survive today in museums in Europe and North and South America? What are the prospects for deciphering the Inka khipus today? And, if we do succeed in deciphering the khipus, what can we hope to learn about the Inkas and their world from their own accounts?
These are some of the questions addressed by Gary Urton in this comprehensive overview of khipu recordkeeping in the Inka empire of South America. One of the major figures of the study of the ancient Andean records over the past half-century, Urton brings his knowledge from earlier book-length studies -- on Andean astronomy, cosmology, mathematics, and mythic history -- to bear on the question of what we know today about the Inka khipus and what we can hope to learn moving forward.
The book is lavishly illustrated with 127 photographs and drawings, many published here for the first time, in the most complete study of the Inka khipus produced to date.