Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records (The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies)

Signs of the Inka Khipu: Binary Coding in the Andean Knotted-String Records (The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies) by Urton, Gary. Paperback edition. ISBN: 9780292785403.

The administrators of the Inca empire recorded its business in Khipu , an elaborate array of primary and secondary knotted strings, about 600 of which survive today. This detailed investigation of the historical use and linguistic meaning of Khipu argues that they were sophisticated mnemonic devices, far more complex than the modern rosary, that used a binary code language. The study, which also discusses the history of the decipherment of the language, is illustrated throughout with explanatory diagrams and photographs of the survivng strings.