university of texas press signs of the inka khipu binary coding in the andean knotted-string records aug 2003

[...]...x SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU tions of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City My first attempt at an analysis of the issues addressed in this book— specifically its concern with the possible meaning of several features of binary coding (i.e., spinning, plying, and knot directionality) in the khipu appeared in an article published in 1994, which was based on my independent study of the. .. the final solution we will arrive at regarding the types of information retained on these devices will look more like a combination of the two forms of record keeping alluded to above In this introductory chapter, I first provide an overview of these two differing points of view on the question of what kind of recording system the khipu may have represented as they have emerged in publications since the. .. on the related issue of the linkage between the logic of writing and the logic of divination in early Mesopotamia, see Manetti 1993: 2–5) We find a similar situation to that described above in the case of the early texts produced in Linear B As John Chadwick has noted: ‘‘ what mattered most to the users of these documents was the nu- 18 SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU merals The numbers and quantities are the. .. relations among the living and connections between the living and the dead, mythohistories, and so on 10 SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU In most ancient and modern states, such records have been retained in written documents The big question we will address here is: Were the khipu the ‘‘written documents’’ of the Inka Empire? In addressing this question, we must begin by sorting out the difference and the relationship... section [of the khipu] , and they [re-]tied them in another section [of the khipu] ’’ (H Pizarro 1920 [1533]: 175 and 178) Following this initial reference to khipu, accounts of these devices appear with considerable frequency in the Spanish chronicles and documents recorded throughout the first few decades of the establishment of the colony (see Urton n.d.a) Khipu were one of the principal sources of information... so, then we are thereby at the doorstep of writing by means of the khipu Regarding the importance of memory in mnemotechnic and writing systems, I would also note that even in our own alphabetic script, the squiggles that we draw on a piece of paper the letters of our alphabet—serve to remind us of arrangements of signs denoting groupings of sounds that go together to form the words we wish to indicate... this study to the topic of binary coding, but I do so with the advantage of Conklin’s sharp insights and clear thinking in his recent article, as well as on the basis of additional observations that I have recorded in the intervening period For their reading of earlier versions of parts of the material presented in this book, I thank Anthony Aveni, Carrie Brezine, Bill Conklin, Robert Harberts, and... string tied around the finger to help recall some piece of memorized information In the string-around -the- finger type of memory aid, one first determines the information (e.g., the message or task) one wishes to recall by means of the memory aid The information is then linked by the mnemonist to a memory-cueing device, which in this case is the piece of string tied around the finger The person then goes about... memory aids forgets the message that was originally intended to be prompted by the device, the message cannot be recovered from information (i.e., signs with conventionalized meanings) on the object itself This is because neither of these contrivances is, in fact, a device for record keeping; rather, they are prompts for information stored in the memory of the user(s) 12 SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU Some colonial... John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, for support for research and time off to write up my studies on the khipu (including this book) in 2001–2006 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK 1 Memory, Writing, and Record Keeping in the Inka Empire CHAPTER It is one of the great ironies of the age in which we live that the cacophony of computer-based, . Whittington Sally F. Wiseley, M.D. Judson Wood, Jr. Tseng 2003. 3.5 06:52 6778 Urton / SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU / sheet 2 of 216 SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU BINARY CODING IN THE ANDEAN KNOTTED-STRING RECORDS Gary. Keeping in the Inka Empire 1 Chapter 2 Theory and Methods in the Study of Khipu Binary Coding 37 Chapter 3 The Physical Components of Khipu Binary Coding 60 Chapter 4 The Linguistic Components of. / SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU / sheet 11 of 216 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU Tseng 2003. 3.5 06:52 6778 Urton / SIGNS OF THE INKA KHIPU / sheet 13 of 216 THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY