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CENSUS-TAKING [1 record]

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Record 1 2017-11-23

English

Subject field(s)
  • Collection Items (Museums and Heritage)
  • Ropemaking
CONT

The Incas had a system of accounting that relied on the quipu. Cords of various colours were attached to a main cord with knots. The number and position of knots as well as the colour of each cord represented information about commercial goods and resources. Quipu means knot in Quechua, the native language of the Andes. The quipu was also useful for census-taking and provided a mass of statistical information for the government.

CONT

A quipu is an assemblage of colored knotted cotton cords ... The colors of the cords, the way the cords are connected together, the relative placement of the cords, the spaces between the cords, the types of knots on the individual cords, and the relative placement of the knots are all part of the logical-numerical recording.

French

Domaine(s)
  • Objets de collection (Muséologie et Patrimoine)
  • Corderie
DEF

Chez les Incas (qui ignoraient l'écriture), faisceau de cordelettes dont les couleurs, les combinaisons et les nœuds étaient dotés de significations conventionnelles précises.

OBS

quipou : Cette graphie, puisée des Rectifications de l'orthographe recommandées par le Conseil supérieur de la langue française, est attestée dans le Petit Robert (2004).

Spanish

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