UR1103/KH0117 - Catalog Information

Section Information
Statistics:
Original Name:   AS103/N12
Original Author:  Marcia & Robert Ascher
Museum:  Museum für Völkerkunde,
Museum Number:  VA47078
Provenance:  Ica
Region:  Unknown 		# of Cords:   71 (43p, 28s)
# of Unique Cord Colors:  4
Benford Match:  0.8925
# Ascher Sums (pps, ips, cps, sps,...):  5 (4, 0, 0, 1,...)
Similar Khipu:  Previous (UR1124 Detail 1)  Next (UR1180)
   UR1103/KH0117
Pendant Pendant Sum
Subsidiary Pendant Sum
DataFile:
UR1103
Notes:
Ascher Databook Notes:
  1. The end of the main cord has been formed into a loop by bending it back on itself and binding it in place. Two pendants are suspended from the end loop.
  2. This is one of several khipus acquired by the Museum in 1907 with provenance Ica. For a list of these khipus, see UR1100.
  3. This khipu has also been discussed by Nordenskiold(see Introduction)
  4. By spacing, the khipu is separated into 2 end cords, 1 group of 5 pendants, and then 3 groups of 12 pendants each. With 1 exception, each of the pendants in groups 1, 3, and 4 have 1 subsidiary each.
  5. Each group has an alternating color pattern: the pendants in group 1 alternate LB, B with all subsidiaries CB; group 2 pendants alternate W, CB; group 3 alternates LB (with a W subsidiary), CB (with a CB subsidiary); and group 4 alternates LB (with a B subsidiary), CB (with a CB subsidiary).
  6. Thirteen percent of the values on the khipu are multiples of 18. In particular, 1/3 of the values in group 2 are multiples of 18, and 18 2 appears on the khipu 3 times.
  7. The values of groups 1 and 2 are related to, but not exactly, the sums of values in groups 3 and 4.
    1. The sum of the pendant values in group 2 ≈ sum of pendant and subsidiary values in groups 3 and 4. (The group 2 sum is low by 24 or 0.5%).
    2. The sum of the LB colored pendants in group 1 ≈ sum of the LB pendants in groups 3 and 4. (The group 1 sum is low by 8 or0.4%).
    3. The sum of all pendant and subsidiary values in group 1 ≈ sum of all pendant and subsidiary values in groups 3 and 4. (The group 1 sum is high by 486, which is 1 more than the value of the first pendant in group 4.)
    4. In 2 positions, values i n group 2 are sums of values on the corresponding pendant and subsidiary in group 3 and the pendant in group 4. Namely:
      \[ P_{2i}\;=\;P_{3i}+P_{3i}s1+P_{4i}\;\;\;for\;i=(7,9) \]
  8. The values on the 2 end cords are related to the sum of the values in groups 3 and 4. Again, 1 of the 2 is inexact.
    1. The value of Pl = sum of pendant and subsidiary values in group 3.
    2. The value of P2 ≈ sum of pendant and subsidiary values in group 4. The P2 value is low by 17 or 0.5%)
  9. By virtue of observations #8 and #7a, the end cords could be related to the values in group 2. That is:
    1. The value of P1+P2 ≈ sum of pendant values in group 2. (The group 2 sum is low by 7 or 0.2%)
Bibliography:

Bibliography for UR1103/KH0117:

Year Author Title Pages
1969 Ascher, Marcia and Robert Ascher. Code of ancient Peruvian knotted cords (Quipus). Nature 222(5193):529-533. 531; 532
1978 Ascher, Marcia, and Robert Ascher. Code of the Quipu: Databook. University Microfilms, Ann Arbor. 698; 707-712
1981 Ascher, Marcia, and Robert Ascher. Code of the Quipu: A Study in Media, Mathematics, and Culture. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor. 15
1925 Kreichgauer, P. Dam. Bibliograpie: Nordenskiöld: The Secret of the Quipu. Anthropos 20:1193-1194. 1193; 1194
1926 Kreichgauer, P. Dam. Das Rätsel der Quipus. Anthropos 21:618-620. 618; 620
1970 Mackey, Carol. Knot Records in Ancient and Modern Peru. PhD dissertation, Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. 212
1925 Nordenskiöld, Erland. Calculations with Years and Months in the Peruvian Quipus. Elanders, Gothenburg. 21-24; 32
1976 Radicati di Primeglio, Carlos. El sistema contable de los Incas: Yupana y Quipu. In Estudios sobre los quipus, edited by Gary Urton, pp. 265-354. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima. 351
1994 Urton, Gary. New Twist in an Old Yarn: Variation in Knot Directionality in the Inka Khipus. Baessler-Archiv Neue Folge 42:271-305. 298
2017 Urton, Gary. Inka History in Knots: Reading Khipus as Primary Sources. University of Texas Press, Austin. 261