Take a close look at this khipu (key-pu), now in the Art, Design & Architecture Museum (AD&A) at UC Santa Barbara. At first glance, this khipu appears to be a tangled grouping of rope or cords yet it is a recording device made of fibers and knots used by the communities in the Central Andean region – what is today Peru and Bolivia. While the khipu seen here is unrolled and mounted for the purposes of display, traditionally khipus were kept rolled up. In thinking about this object as a record holder, which was handled and manipulated with new information being added and modified, we set upon a hands-on, haptic study to learn its history and share it digitally.

The khipu itself is an archive, and record holder, however our records of this khipu’s story and the information it holds are both incomplete. We can recover parts of the story through various analyses, identifying the materials, structure and information in its cords and knots. Radiocarbon dating and imaging informs us about other information and experiences of this khipu. Together, these different lines of evidence allow us to reconstruct this khipu’s story about how it served Andean peoples.

Explore this online exhibition to learn more about how to read khipus, this khipu, and various methods of analysis to study and interpret khipus.

The provenance of this khipu and its object biography has large gaps. Radiocarbon dating indicates the khipu was created between 1500 and 1632 somewhere in the Inka Empire. It was collected in the 1930s/40s and donated to UC Santa Barbara’s University Art Museum (now the AD&A) in 1966. In 1994 it was mounted to a canvas backwards which is how we see it today.

Today, we are accustomed to written words, numbers, and books to share stories, accounting, and census information. However information coding in khipus begins with the construction of the cords. To understand khipus, you need to first familiarize yourself with its different cordage features. Khipus are made with natural materials most often fibers, such as cotton or camelid wool. From how the fibers are spun which make the cordage to how cords are attached and organized on the primary, or main cord, of the khipu is significant, intentional and meaningful. Information from 20th and 21st century Andean highland community members and study of modern census khipus indicate that different clusters of knots and the variation of colored cords recorded contributions of a specific allyu, or community in a certain area.

Zoom in on the image to see more about its main features, cord and knot details.

While analysis of this khipu is ongoing, the pendant cords’ organization, groups of the same colored cords with similar counts suggests it may have been used for counting purposes, such as a labor recording device during the Inka or early Colonial period. Composed of brown and cream colored cotton, some mottled, this khipu was mounted to a canvas backing in the reverse, showing us the “back” of the object. The kayete knot on the primary cord begins on the left side of the khipu. The pendant cords closest to the kayete knot are the initial information recorded. On this khipu, the kayete knot is on the right side of the pendant cord, while it should be on the left therefore we are looking at it backwards.

Radiocarbon dates from cotton threads on the khipu suggest it was in use between 1502-1643 CE, a period of time that encompasses both the Inca empire and the early colonial period. Radiocarbon dating measures the amount of carbon-14 (C14), the radioactive isotope of carbon in organisms. All living organisms absorb carbon-14 until death, when it begins to decay at a constant rate. Scientists can measure the amount of radiocarbon in an organism and then use a calibration curve to determine what calendar year range it dates to. We took two samples from the khipu for radiocarbon dating.

Ultraviolet (UV) light analysis can reveal features of a khipu invisible in normal lighting, but what hidden stories emerge when we look beyond what our eyes can see? Hyperspectral analysis of a 16th-century khipu allows one to potentially detect subtle variations in dyes, fibers, and residues that are invisible to the naked eye. This non-invasive method provides new insights into the artifact’s materials, construction, and use, deepening understanding of its historical and cultural significance. See what we learned when performing this analysis.