The Mystery of the Khipu
One mystery that has baffled scientists for the longest time is the fact that the Inca never had a form of writing. The Inca were one of the most advanced civilizations of their age yet they have no records of their past. This mystery is called The Inca Paradox. Now some scientists are on the edge of finding the Inca’s form of writing. The answer lies in the khipu.The khipu are strange, once colorful, bundles of string with knots tied at random intervals. At one point all Inca’s wore these around their necks but now only 750 are left. What are the khipu and what do they have to do with the Inca Paradox? Let’s dive in and try to find out.
One theory on what the khipu are comes from anthropologist Leland Locke, who
believes the khipu are a counting system kind of like abacuses. Locke noticed that there are three types of knot in the khipu. There were figure-eight knots, long knots which are knots composed of 2-9 knots instead of being singular knots, and normal knots. Leland Locke theorized that the figure-eight knots stood for the number one, the long knots symbolized the number of knots in them, and depending on where it was located on the khipu the normal knot meant the 10’, 100’s, or even higher number columns. Locke believed that the Inca made the khipu to keep track of stuff like how many llamas they had sold.
A second theory is that the khipu are simply necklaces intended to look stylish or for religious purposes. This theory was also made by Leland Locke since only 1/3 of the remaining khipu matched his original theory. This theory seems very reasonable and could’ve been the only reason for the khipu existence with nothing complicated related to them. The only problem with this theory is that an actual Inca once told an invading conquistador that and I quote “the khipu keep records.” Besides who would want to wear those ugly bundles of string anyway.
The third and final theory, the one that connects us to the Inca Paradox, is that the khipu are the Inca’s form of writing. This theory was made by Harvard graduate, Gary Urton, an expert on the Inca. In 1990 Urton noticed even more types of knot and started putting the khipu through a computer scanning program which picked up every single detail, on every single knot then put them in a file creating an official khipu database. After looking through the database Gary Urton found some knots or groups of knots that appeared a lot which he believes are certain words or phrases. Urton also believes that the color of the knots has to do with it. This theory is very complicated and Gary Urton is still working on it to this day.
So that’s the mystery of the missing Inca writing and the khipu. Considering that 1/3 of all remaining khipu don’t fit Locke’s theory and a physical Inca said that the khipu weren’t just for show the theory with the best evidence backing it up has got to be Gary Urton’s. This theory may just be a major breakthrough, possibly solving one of the greatest mysteries of all time. If Urton can crack the code and we can begin to read the Inca's writing then we can discover more of the history of the Inca, possibly some amazing secrets and baffling mysteries along the way.
One theory on what the khipu are comes from anthropologist Leland Locke, who
believes the khipu are a counting system kind of like abacuses. Locke noticed that there are three types of knot in the khipu. There were figure-eight knots, long knots which are knots composed of 2-9 knots instead of being singular knots, and normal knots. Leland Locke theorized that the figure-eight knots stood for the number one, the long knots symbolized the number of knots in them, and depending on where it was located on the khipu the normal knot meant the 10’, 100’s, or even higher number columns. Locke believed that the Inca made the khipu to keep track of stuff like how many llamas they had sold.
A second theory is that the khipu are simply necklaces intended to look stylish or for religious purposes. This theory was also made by Leland Locke since only 1/3 of the remaining khipu matched his original theory. This theory seems very reasonable and could’ve been the only reason for the khipu existence with nothing complicated related to them. The only problem with this theory is that an actual Inca once told an invading conquistador that and I quote “the khipu keep records.” Besides who would want to wear those ugly bundles of string anyway.
The third and final theory, the one that connects us to the Inca Paradox, is that the khipu are the Inca’s form of writing. This theory was made by Harvard graduate, Gary Urton, an expert on the Inca. In 1990 Urton noticed even more types of knot and started putting the khipu through a computer scanning program which picked up every single detail, on every single knot then put them in a file creating an official khipu database. After looking through the database Gary Urton found some knots or groups of knots that appeared a lot which he believes are certain words or phrases. Urton also believes that the color of the knots has to do with it. This theory is very complicated and Gary Urton is still working on it to this day.
So that’s the mystery of the missing Inca writing and the khipu. Considering that 1/3 of all remaining khipu don’t fit Locke’s theory and a physical Inca said that the khipu weren’t just for show the theory with the best evidence backing it up has got to be Gary Urton’s. This theory may just be a major breakthrough, possibly solving one of the greatest mysteries of all time. If Urton can crack the code and we can begin to read the Inca's writing then we can discover more of the history of the Inca, possibly some amazing secrets and baffling mysteries along the way.