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Incan Numerical Recordkeeping System May Have Been Widely Used
New analysis shows commoners from the Andean highlands produced khipus, suggesting record-keeping was more widespread in the Inca Empire than previously thought, researchers say.
- On August 13, 2025, Science Advances reported a radiocarbon-dated A.D. 1498 khipu was made by a commoner from the Andean highlands.
- Recently, the University of St. Andrews acquired a khipu, and reports suggested it was made by a khipukamayuqs from around 1498.
- Analysis of the primary cord human hair, 104 centimeters, revealed the maker’s diet was low in meat and maize, relying mainly on tubers and greens.
- The discovery challenges assumptions about khipu producers, suggesting literacy and record-keeping extended beyond khipukamayuqs in Inca society.
- Looking ahead, researchers plan to reexamine museum collections holding hundreds of unstudied khipus, potentially rewriting understandings of Incan record-keeping.
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Hair analysis reveals that anyone who used the knot script of the Inca was more diverse than expected.
·Zürich, Switzerland
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Georgia Public Broadcasting+2 Reposted by 2 other sources
A lock of hair may have just changed what we know about life in the Incan Empire
Inca society kept records by encoding information into knotted cords called khipu. A new analysis of hair woven into these cords suggests this record-keeping was practiced by commoners as well as elites.
·Georgia, United States
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Who made these knotted records during the Inca Empire?
Inca society kept records by encoding information into knotted cords called khipu. A new analysis of hair woven into these cords suggests this record-keeping was practiced by commoners as well as elites.
·Washington, United States
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Total News Sources14
Leaning Left6Leaning Right0Center2Last UpdatedBias Distribution75% Left
Bias Distribution
- 75% of the sources lean Left
75% Left
L 75%
C 25%
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