The History Of Quipu

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The History Of Quipu

Quipu is a set of cords and knots tied together, most of them were made of cotton and dyed in one or more colors. Each of the pendants and the knots tied on it represented numbers and the colors had their own representatives. It was invented by Incas for the purpose of recording and accounting. The following paragraphs will cover the positive and negative aspects of quipu and the difference between the communication systems of the western civilization, for example writing.
Some of the positive aspects of quipu are, firstly, they were used to store information, for example, the output of gold mines *1*, the amount and kinds of tribute gave by other tribes or the result of a census were all recorded on quipus. Secondly, they can be read in horizontal direction therefore they have timeliness of before and after. They can be read vertically so terms like below and above can also apply. Thirdly, Cords on quipu can be moved until the last knot is fixed into position, so they are flexible to adjust mistakes. Fourthly, they are easy to preserve, as they wont wear out as easy as paper. Fifthly, they are in three-dimensional form, which means the making of the quipu involves greater tactile sensitivity *2* than other kind of communications for example writing. Lastly, as it may be the most important aspect of quipu, they predated and help created the coming of the civilization of Incas.
There are some negative aspects of quipu too. Firstly they have limitation in meanings, which means the cords and knots represent numbers only, they cannot be used to convey complex thoughts. Secondly, the making of quipus is complicated compared to writing. They need specific skills and also take a while to train of quipumaker as there are hundreds of color vocabulary and different styles of knotting. Thirdly, quipu cannot record things as fast as writings. Compared to...

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