Researchers studying an ancient form of writing used by the Incas in pre-Columbian South America have unraveled new clues to a longstanding mystery.
The research, undertaken by Professor Sabine Hyland at the University of St. Andrews, reveals that the enigmatic form of communication, known as quipu (also written as khipu), helped record observations of the ancient climate during the height of the Incan Empire.
These knotted-string devices served a range of functions, including communication and record keeping, although their full purpose has long remained mysterious. A primary reason for the lingering questions about their use is inaccessibility, as most quipus are housed within museums and collections, where crucial context about their use in the ancient world is unavailable.
Decoding the Secrets of Ancient Incan Quipus
For many years, these enigmatic artifacts have been a focus for Hyland, a Professor of World Religions at the University of St Andrews. In a recent breakthrough, Hyland has finally managed to uncover crucial new insights into the use of quipus and their role in ancient Incan culture.
Now, her findings are upending several past ideas archaeologists have maintained about string-writing, after she was granted access to a collection of ancient quipus that had never been studied previously. This remarkable collection is currently in the possession of an Indigenous community known as Santa Leonor de Jucul in Peru.
The remarkable collection, which contains nearly 100 quipus, includes a 68-meter-long specimen, the longest known to exist. Radiocarbon dating reveals that the hair woven into the quipus likely dates the artifacts from around 1480 AD.
Ancient Incan Environmental Research
Based on Hyland’s research, the quipus appear to preserve details about changes in the ancient Peruvian environment. Notably, the collection she was granted access to is the first set of quipus confirmed as being used for studying the climate of the ancient world.
Hyland says these enigmatic examples of early Incan string-writing also reveal the care with which the ancient Andean people collected information about changes occurring in their environment. Each quipu reveals the responses of villagers from their respective eras to climate change.
Some of the quipus, for example, reveal that villagers would make offerings at a sacred location associated with rain during periods of drought. The quipus, Hyland says, preserve records of where the offerings were made and what was given.
String-Writing Signed by the Authors
In a unique discovery, Hyland also found that several of the quipus appeared to feature locks of hair, which she says were used by their makers as a sort of signature that was interwoven into the ancient string writing system.
Historical data from the time of the Spanish arrival had previously suggested that the creation of quipus was a specialized form of knowledge held by only a few in the ancient Inca Empire, who were likely recognized as high-ranking members of society. However, analysis of the hair samples suggests a diet consumed by the creators that points to commoners rather than bureaucrats.
“Diet varied by status in the Inka Empire,” Hyland said in a recent statement. “Commoners ate a diet of potatoes, legumes, and quinoa grasses. Elites ate meat and drank large quantities of maize beer.”
“Results intimate that who made these Inka khipu had little meat or maize in their diet,” Hyland said, arguing instead that “the evidence indicate that they were a commoner.”
For Hyland, discoveries like these suggest that literacy among the ancient Incans who specialized in this ancient form of string-writing was far more widespread throughout society than previously known.
Hyland says this means “there was probably greater continuity between Inka khipus and modern ethnographic khipus, like the ones in Jucul, than previously thought.”
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. He can be reached by email at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow his work at micahhanks.com and on X: @MicahHanks.