File number:- pbk0110

© South American Pictures/ Tony Morrison

A quipu / khipo or knotted cord memory device. The owner or holder of the quipu could remember the information by noting the number of cords, the type of cord and its colour, position and number of the knots on the cords as well as other factors. As they were fragile few quipus survive from the highland part of the Inca empire - this example comes from a lower and almost perpetually dry coastal region.