yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Threads That Speak: How The Inca Used Strings to Communicate | National Geographic


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

(Wind blowing) (Solemn music) (Engine humming) When you work with archaeological objects, you are like entering the world of your ancestors. (Mysterious music) I like to think that in a way, they talk to us. (Mysterious music) A Quipu is an accounting device made of cotton strings that used knots to represent numbers. (Mysterious music) A Quipu is the accountance of life (laughs). (Mysterious music) The Quipus were made in Inca times by Quipucamayocs. (Mysterious music) The Quipucamayocs, the only ones who were able to read it, die and didn't pass the knowledge to the next generations. There's a lot of questions still to get answered. My biggest hope for Inkawasi is to be able to excavate all the site.

(Gentle bell music) The Quipus are very well preserved because the environment of the Peruvian coast is very arid. So you have a very good preservation of any organic remain. (Gentle bell music) This must be 600 years old. And as you can see, the preservation is very well. (Gentle bell music) We know that the numbers found in the Quipus are the counts of these products. (Gentle bell music)

[Woman] They have been buried for 600 years and so what we do is the conservation. That means keep them clean and straight so the analyzer can come and study them. I think this discovery would bring a better understanding of Quipus and also in how the Incas dominate and control these local populations. Many people say that because we had no writing, our culture was not developed. But we really have things like Quipus that show that it was a very developed culture.

Every time it's exciting because we are finding them in different contexts and in different situations. And different sizes, different shapes, colors, knots. So we can have a very big data of these Quipus. So we can compare them and get any kind of insight to see how to read them or how to understand them. (Gentle bell music) The first one when you see them like really dirty spaghetti and then they are just like "take me a picture," they are so pretty. (Laughs) I think the Quipus are grateful (laughs). (Gentle upbeat music)

(Paper tearing) (Paper tearing)

More Articles

View All
Michael Burry Just Sold His ENTIRE Stock Portfolio...
Over the past few months, Michael Burry has been one of the most talked about investors, and it’s fair enough too. The guy is certainly not afraid to share his thoughts and opinions on the state of the economy on his Twitter page, interestingly titled “Ca…
Trying to Catch a Coyote | Live Free or Die
Cole Bert’s property taxes have spiked during his worst trapping season on record. A quail plantation looking to get rid of predatory coyotes is his chance to score some high-priced pelts. It’s a win-win situation because they get rid of their coyotes so …
Howard Marks: The BIGGEST Investment Opportunity in 40 Years
53 years in your investing career, there have been three sea changes, and we are in one of them. What does that mean? Howard Marks, he is a billionaire and one of the most highly respected investors in the world. Marks has been investing for over 50 years…
Once You Stop Caring, Results Come | The Law of Reverse Effect
Once, there was a writer who happened to specialize in crafting thought-provoking essays on various subjects. Through hard work and seemingly endless creativity, she managed to publish numerous pieces that captivated her readers. However, one day, she fou…
Beautiful Animation Shows What It's Like to Be Homesick in a New Country | Short Film Showcase
Every spring, my mom used to plant boxes of violets and propagate the geranium she’s been growing for years in a small garden on a balcony in Tehran. I remember her telling me, “When you move a plant from one place to another, you need to give it some tim…
POLAR OBSESSION 360 | National Geographic
Eleven years ago was my first trip to Antarctica. I came down here to do a story about the behavior of the leopard seal. My name is Paul Nicklin; it’s my job as a photojournalist to capture the importance and the fragility of this place and bring this bac…