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How Can Spin, Ply, and Knot Direction Contribute to Understanding the Quipu Code?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Marcia Ascher
Marcia Ascher*
Affiliation:
524 Highland Road, Ithaca, NY 14850 ([email protected])
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Abstract

Essential to quipu analysis is identification of the logical structure of the quipu and the internal relationships of the data within that structure. The identification process relies on examining, in detail, the colors, placement, and spacing of the quipu cords, and the knot types and positions on the cords. Spin, ply, and knot directionality have recently become available for 59 otherwise well-described quipus. Here, I examine this additional information in the context of the logic of the quipus. Analysis shows that for these quipus, except for three in which the main cord differs from the other cords, spin and ply are uniform for all the cords on a quipu. For the large majority of the quipus (about 81 percent), knot directionality is also uniform throughout. The 19 percent for which knot directionality is mixed are presented and discussed individually. On them, knot directionality conforms to, and plays a role in, the overall logic of the quipu. It is clear that spin, ply, and knot directionality are not chosen by the quipu-maker on a cord-by-cord basis and they do not serve to distinguish between quantitative and non-quantitative data.

Para analizar los quipus es esencial identificar su estructura lógica y como se relacionan internamente los datos dentro de esa estructura. El proceso de identificación depende en el examen detallado de los colores, la colocación, y la distancia de los cordones además del tipo de nudo y su posición en el cordón. Ha estado disponible recientemente información sobre la orientación de la torsión, las hebras, y los nudos de 59 quipus ya harto descritos. Examino esta información adicional en el contexto de la lógica de los quipus. Mi análisis demuestra que en estos quipus, con la excepción de tres de ellos en los cuales el cordón principal difiere del resto, son uniforme la torsión y las hebras de todos sus cordones. En la mayoría (un 81 por ciento), la orientación del nudo también es uniforme. Discuto individualmente el 19 por ciento cuyos nudos tienen orientación mixta. En estos, la orientación del nudo concuerda, y juega un papel, en la lógica total del quipu. Resulta entonces obvio que el creador del quipu no selecciona la orientación de la torsión, las hebras, y el nudo para cada cordón individualmente y que estos detalles no se prestan para distinguir entre datos cuantitativos y no cuantitativos.

Type
Reports
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 16 , Issue 1 , March 2005 , pp. 99 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 by the Society for American Archaeology.

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References

References Cited

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