UR1032/KH0034 - Catalog Information

Section Information
Statistics:
Original Name:   AS032
Original Author:  Marcia & Robert Ascher
Museum:  Peabody Museum, Harvard University,
Museum Number:  42.28.30/4532
Provenance:  Nazca
Region:  Unknown 		# of Cords:   541 (415p, 126s)
# of Unique Cord Colors:  10
Benford Match:  0.4359
# Ascher Sums (pps, ips, cps, sps,...):  13 (0, 0, 0, 0,...)
Similar Khipu:  Previous (UR140)  Next (AS080)
   UR1032/KH0034
Group Sum Bands
Ascher Decreasing Group
DataFile:
UR1032
Notes:
Ascher Databook Notes:
  1. LB* is the same color as LB but a different texture.
  2. The main cord and some pendants were recently mended. The mended portion has 5 pendants and some additional space. These are left out of the listing. The listing and measurements resume with pendant 274.
  3. Construction note: The cord has a loop tied in it 11.0 cm. beyond the E knot. The original length of the cord was 31.0 cm.
  4. Construction note: The markers are blank cords connected to the main cord in a special way.
    1. The cord was first attached in the usual pendant manner.
    2. Then it was passed around the main cord and through the loop thus formed.
  5. Construction note: The main cord is finished with a cotton knob. Its covering has bands of color that appear on the khipu pendants and subsidiaries.
  6. The khipu is divided into 6 parts by markers. Each part is separated by spacing into 9 groups. Each group has 8 pendants and the same color pattern of 5 LB followed by 3 W.
    Since the main cord starts with a broken end, there may have been more parts. Also, we assume that the first 16 pendants of part 1 are missing due to the broken end, and that the first 10 pendants of part 5 are missing due to the break and mend noted between M4 and pendant 274. This means that 51/54 groups remain and 406/ 432 pendants remain.
  7. The khipu only contains only the values 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. In all groups:
    • position 8 contains 0-1
    • positions 5&6 contain 0-2
    • position 4 contains 0-3
    • position 1 contains 0-2,4
    • positions 2&7 contain 0-4
    • position 3 contains 0-4,6
    • subsidiaries contain 0-2.
    In all, there is 1 value of 6 and 15 values of 3 or 4. Thus 96% are 0-2.
    Note: since 72/406 pendants and 27/119 subsidiaries are broken, generalizations about values refer to 334 pendants and 92 subsidiaries, while generalizations about color refer to 406 pendants and 119 subsidiaries.
  8. In all groups, there are no subsidiaries on position 1. There is a maximum of 2 subsidiaries on any pendant. There are 9 different subsidiary colors with some distinction by position. GB appears only in position 8; W only in position 7; LB* only in position 2; DB:W in positions 2&6; LB-GB and BL/LB-BL in positions 3,4,5; LB-BL in positions 2,3,4,5; and LB and DB appear in positions 2-8.
Bibliography:

Bibliography for UR1032/KH0034:

Year Author Title Pages
1978 Ascher, Marcia, and Robert Ascher. Code of the Quipu: Databook. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor. 124-153
1981 Ascher, Marcia, and Robert Ascher. Code of the Quipu: A Study in Media, Mathematics, and Culture. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. 15; 86
2014 Cherkinsky, Alexander, and Gary Urton. Radiocarbon Chronology of Andean Khipus. Open Journal of Archaeometry 2(5260):32-36. 34
2020 Pancorvo Salicetti, Anel, (editor). Quipus y quipucamayoc: Codificación y administración en el antiguo Perú. Apus Graph Ediciones, Lima. Salicetti, Anel, (editor). Quipus y quipucamayoc: Codificación y administración en el antiguo Perú. Apus Graph Ediciones, Lima. 442
2024 Santiago, Angelina. Reflecting on Khipu Studies in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology: Khipu 42-28-30/4532. In Situ: News and Events of the Harvard Standing Committee on Archaeology, Spring 2024:25-26. throughout
2017 Urton, Gary. Inka History in Knots: Reading Khipus as Primary Sources. University of Texas Press, Austin. 263