Peru · Textile / Cordage / Knotted Record-Keeping
khipu (Quechua, 'knot'); quipu (Spanish)
The making of khipus: cords of spun and plied cotton or camelid (llama, alpaca) fiber, tied together and knotted to record information. A typical khipu has a horizontal main cord from which pendant cords hang, sometimes with top cords and subsidiary pendants. Knots are placed in rows on the pendants to give decimal numbers: a figure-eight knot for 1, a long knot of 2 to 9 turns for single digits, and overhand knots for tens and hundreds. Color, fiber, the direction of spin and ply, and the way each pendant is attached all carry information as well. The Inka state used khipus to administer an empire; some Andean communities in Peru still make and use them, for herds, for village obligations and for funerals.
Risk level: Endangered · Not found on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage lists. The Khipu Database (Khipu Archives) appears in UNESCO's Memory of the World register for Latin America and the Caribbean, which concerns documentary heritage, not the living craft.
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