Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records (The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies)

216 Pages·2003·8.26 MB·english

by  Gary Urton

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IP TheLindaScheleSeriesinMayaandPre-ColumbianStudies
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N Thisserieswasmadepossiblethroughthegenerosityof
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E WilliamC.Nowlin,Jr.,andBettyeH.Nowlin
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TheNationalEndowmentfortheHumanities
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S ElliotM.AbramsandAnnCorinne ChristopherandSallyLutz
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to AnthonyAlofsin JosephOrr
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U JosephW.BallandJenniferT. ThePattersonFoundation
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7 Taschek
7 JohnM.D.Pohl
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WilliamA.Bartlett
MaryAnnaPrentice
ElizabethP.Benson
PhilipRay
BoeingGiftMatchingProgram
LouiseL.Saxon
WilliamW.Bottorff
DavidM.andLindaR.Schele
VictoriaBricker
RichardShiff
RobertS.Carlsen
RalphE.Smith
FrankN.Carroll
BarbaraL.Stark
RogerJ.Cooper
PennyJ.Steinbach
SusanGlenn
CarolynTate
JohnF.Harris
BarbaraandDennisTedlock
PeterD.Harrison
NancyTroike
JoanA.Holladay
DonaldW.Tuff
MarianneJ.Huber
JavierUrcid
JānisIndrikis
BarbaraVoorhies
TheInstituteforMesoamerican
E.MichaelWhittington
Studies
SallyF.Wiseley,M.D.
AnnaLeeKahn
JudsonWood,Jr.
RexandDanielaKoontz

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P SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU
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IN BINARY CODING
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IN THE ANDEAN KNOTTED-STRING RECORDS
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UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS PRESS, AUSTIN

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U
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F Requestsforpermissiontoreproducematerialfrom
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IG ofTexasPress,Box7819,Austin,TX78713-7819.
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7 LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
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Urton,Gary,date
SignsoftheInkaKhipu:binarycodinginthe
Andeanknotted-stringrecords/GaryUrton.
p. cm.—(TheLindaScheleseriesinMaya
andpre-Columbianstudies)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN0-292-78539-9(alk.paper)
ISBN0-292-78540-2(pbk.:alk.paper)
1.Quipu. 2.Incas—Communication. 3.Binary
system(Mathematics) I.Title. II.Series.
F3429.3.Q6U78 2003
302.2'22—dc21
2002012297

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78 ForAnthonyAveniandJanePinchin,
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6 dearfriendsandcolleagues
andunwaveringsourcesofsupport
formanyyearsatColgateUniversity

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U
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A Contents
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78 PrefaceandAcknowledgments ix
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Chapter1
Memory,Writing,andRecordKeepingintheInkaEmpire 1
Chapter2
TheoryandMethodsintheStudyofKhipuBinary
Coding 37
Chapter3
ThePhysicalComponentsofKhipuBinaryCoding 60
Chapter4
TheLinguisticComponentsofKhipuBinaryCoding 89
Chapter5
KhipuSignCapacityandCodeConversion 114
Chapter6
SignTheory,Markedness,andParallelismintheKhipu
InformationSystem 135
Chapter7
Conclusions 161
Appendix
TabularDescriptionofKhipuUR19fromChachapoyas 165
Notes 169
Bibliography 175
Index 195

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Hewhoseekstocountthestarsbeforehecancountthe
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GN scoresandknotsofthequipusdeservesderision.
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(1966[1609–1617]:397)
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Theauthor,whoovertwentyyearsagopublishedabookonQuechua
and Inka astronomyentitled At the Crossroads of the Earth and the Sky:
An Andean Cosmology, fervently hopes that his readerof today will be
moresympathetictothepresentundertakingthanwouldhavebeenthe
IncaGarcilasodelaVega,whopennedtheaboveadmonishmentalmost
fourcenturiesago!

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A Preface and Acknowledgments
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78 In one form or another, I have been at work on this book for almost
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6 tenyears.ThebasicargumentthatIpresentherebegantotakeshapein
apaperentitled‘‘WhatDotheKhipuTellUsabouttheInkaEmpire?’’
which I delivered in a symposium that was held at Dumbarton Oaks,
Washington,D.C.,in1997.Thesymposium‘‘Expressionsof Powerin
theInkaEmpire,’’inwhichtheoriginalpaperwaspresented,wasorga-
nizedbyRichardBurger,RamiroMatosM.,andCraigMorris.Ithank
theorganizersofthatsymposiumfortheopportunitytopresentapaper
in what was the first and only symposium on the Inka ever to be held
intheimportantvenueof DumbartonOaks.
ThepaperfromtheDumbartonOakssymposiumsatforacoupleof
yearsbeforebeingtakenout,dustedoff,andpresentedinasignificantly
revised form at a conference entitled ‘‘First Writing,’’ which was orga-
nizedbyStephenD.HoustonandheldattheSundanceresortinProvo,
Utah,onApril6–8,2000.IthankStevefortheinvitationtoparticipate
in that wonderful conference, and I also thank him and the other par-
ticipants for their questions and comments on my paper. I note that a
condensedversionoftheargumentsandsomeofthematerialpresented
inChapters1–5ofthisbookarescheduledtobepublishedasachapter
inavolumeentitledTheFirstWriting(CambridgeUniversityPress,in
press),currentlybeingeditedbyHoustonfromthepaperspresentedat
theSundanceconference.
Inaparalleltellingofthehistoryof howthisbookcameintobeing,
Ishouldalsonotethatthisworkisperhapsthemostprominentresult
of a decade-long interchangewith mycolleague Bill Conklin. My first
opportunitytolookcloselyatacollectionofkhipucamein1992when
ConklinandIspentadaystudyinganddiscussingkhipuinthecollec-

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