What Quipus Recorded in the Inca Empire
The quipus (also khipu) were the principal technology of record keeping in the Inca Empire, and they were used to record a remarkably wide range of information. The Spanish chronicler Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, in his Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno (c. 1615), distinguished between several kinds of quipus according to their content: quipus for population counts, llama herds, maize harvests, storehouse inventories, military rosters, and historical narratives. Modern research, including the work of Gary Urton, Sabine Hyland, and Carol Mackey, has confirmed and extended this classification, and the surviving quipus and the colonial descriptions of quipus suggest that the system was used to record at least the following categories of information.
Population and Census Data
The most important use of quipus was to record population data. The Inca conducted periodic censuses of the population of the empire, and the results were recorded on quipus that listed the number of households in each ayllu (kin group), each district, and each province. The Spanish chronicler Pedro Cieza de León, in the second part of his Crónica del Perú (1553), recorded that the Inca state kept detailed records of the population, with separate counts for men, women, children, and adults of mit’a age. The counts were used to determine the tribute and labor obligations of each household, and they were updated periodically as households were formed, dissolved, or relocated.
The population counts recorded on quipus were extremely detailed. Surviving colonial documents that were based on Inca quipus, particularly the tasa of Toledo (1570s) and the visitas (inspections) of the colonial period, often list households by name, by age, and by marital status, and they include information about the ethnic and linguistic affiliation of the household. The accuracy of the population counts is suggested by the consistency of the figures across the colonial period.
Tribute Lists
A second major use of quipus was to record tribute lists. The Inca state extracted a regular tribute of goods and labor from each province, and the tribute lists were recorded on quipus that specified the type, quantity, and source of each item. The Spanish chronicler Martín de Murúa recorded that the imperial state kept detailed records of the tribute owed by each province, and that the records were updated as the tribute was delivered. The tribute lists included not only the items delivered in the most recent year but also the cumulative obligations of the province and the credits for goods already delivered.
The tribute quipus were particularly important in the operation of the imperial granaries and storehouses. The state granaries (qollqa) at the major provincial centers and along the Qhapaq Ñan were stocked with the produce of the tribute and mit’a systems, and the contents of each granary were recorded on quipus that were updated as goods were received, stored, and distributed.
Military Rosters and Organization
A third major use of quipus was to record military rosters and organization. The Inca army was organized in decimal units of 10, 100, 500, 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 men, and the units were recorded on quipus that specified the size, composition, and command structure of each unit. The Spanish chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega recorded that the military quipus included the names of the commanders, the number of soldiers in each unit, the weapons and equipment issued to each unit, and the supplies allocated to the unit for a campaign.
The military quipus also recorded information about military campaigns, including the names of the commanders, the size of the armies, the duration of the campaigns, the casualties suffered, and the territories conquered. The records were used to determine the distribution of rewards to the soldiers and their families.
Livestock, Agriculture, and Production
A fourth major use of quipus was to record information about livestock, agriculture, and production. The Spanish chronicler Guaman Poma de Ayala distinguished between several kinds of quipus for these purposes, including quipus for llama herds, alpaca herds, maize harvests, potato harvests, and textile production. The quipus for livestock recorded the number and identity of the animals, the ownership of the herds, and the disposition of the animals. The quipus for harvests recorded the area planted, the expected yield, the actual yield, and the disposition of the harvest. The quipus for textile production recorded the quantity and quality of cloth produced, the names of the weavers, and the distribution of the cloth.
Historical Narratives and Calendrical Information
A fifth, and more controversial, use of quipus was to record historical narratives and calendrical information. The Spanish chroniclers record that the Inca used quipus to record the history of the empire, including the genealogies of the Sapa Incas, the dates of major events, and the history of the imperial conquests. The chronicler Garcilaso de la Vega recorded that the imperial archives at Cusco contained quipus that recorded the history of the dynasty, and that the quipucamayocs could recite the history from the quipus in the same way that a European historian would recite a chronicle.
The use of quipus for historical narrative has been the subject of much scholarly debate. Modern scholars, including Gary Urton, Sabine Hyland, and Tom Zuidema, have argued that the quipus may have encoded narrative information in a systematic way, using a combination of knot patterns, color codes, and cord arrangements. The discovery in 1982 of the San Juan de Collata quipus, a set of quipus from a highland community near Cusco, has been interpreted by Hyland as containing a record of a local religious and political history, including the names of priests and the dates of important events.
Quipus in Religious and Ritual Contexts
A sixth use of quipus was in religious and ritual contexts. The Spanish chroniclers record that quipus were used in the imperial cult of the sun, in the recording of the calendar of state rituals, and in the transmission of sacred narratives. The chronicler Bernabé Cobo recorded that the temple of the sun (the Coricancha) in Cusco maintained a set of quipus that recorded the ritual calendar, the offerings made to the sun, and the genealogies of the imperial ancestors. The use of quipus in religious contexts is consistent with the broader use of the system as a technology of memory.
The use of quipus in religious contexts persisted into the colonial period, despite the efforts of the Spanish administration to suppress them. The records of the colonial extirpación de idolatrías campaigns record numerous instances in which indigenous communities in the highlands and on the coast were found to be using quipus in religious rituals.
Limits of Quipu Record Keeping
The quipu system was extraordinarily versatile, but it had several limitations. First, the quipus were not portable in the modern sense: a quipu with several hundred pendant cords and a complex knotting structure was a substantial object. Second, the interpretation of quipus required a trained specialist, and the system was not accessible to the general population. Third, the quipus were vulnerable to damage from moisture, fire, and physical wear. Fourth, the interpretation of quipus was not standardized in the way that a written language is, and the meaning of a given quipu could vary depending on the context and the quipucamayoq.