UR1034/KH0042

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Original Name: AS034
Original Author: Marcia & Robert Ascher
Museum: National Museum, Smithsonian, Washington, D.C.
Museum Number: 365240
Provenance: Unknown
Region: Pachacamac

Total Number of Cords: 179
Number of Ascher Cord Colors: 10
Benford Match: 0.801
Similar Khipu: Previous Next
Datafile: UR1034

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Khipu Notes

Ascher Databook Notes:

The subsidiary cord was not attached to the pendant. Since the pendant's coloration showed that it was missing a subsidiary, the association is probable.
The pendant attachment seemed to be a later repair.
Two detached cords were associated with the khipu. They were both colored FB-W. One had value 2 and the other value 1. The knot placement indicates that, if anything, they were subsidiaries, not pendant cords.
The khipu was received by the Museum in rolled and tied condition. The provenance is Pachacamac. It was given to the Smithsonian in 1933 by Mrs. J. P. Compton.
Because larger spaces separate them on the main cord, the khipu is considered in 3 parts: groups 1-7; groups 8-17; and group 18.

Part I: The first 6 groups have 5 pendants each and the 7th group has 4 pendants.
1. Pendants in groups 1-3 are all colored YB; pendants in groups 4-6 are all colored BG; and all group 7 pendants are LB.
2. The pendant values in groups 1-6 are limited to 0-7. In each group the third pendant has the maximum value.
  Since there are 30 positions with only 8 different values, repetition is expected but most of the repetition is in adjacent positions:
  \[P_{i1}=P_{i2}\;\;for\;i\;=\;(3,4)\]
  
  \[P_{i2}=P_{i3}\;\;for\;i\;=\;(3,5,6)\]
  
  \[P_{i4}=P_{i5}\;\;for\;i\;=\;(2,3,4,5,6)\]
3. There are 5 subsidiaries on each pendant in group 4.
  With one positional exchange, the colors of the subsidiaries are consistent with their position (sl is YB or YB/LB; s2 is YB-W or YB-W/YB; s3 is YB:W; s4 is YB-W or LB-W; and s5 is YB:W or LB: W).
  On each pendant, 4 of the 5 subsidiary values are 0 (or blank) and the other is a multiple of 10.
Part II: The first 3 groups (groups 8-10) have 5 pendants each; the next 3 groups (groups 11-13) have 10, 14, 10 pendants respectively; and the last 4 groups (groups 14-17) have 5 pendants each.
1. All pendants in group 8 are color YB and all pendants in groups 9 and 10 are color LB: YB. All pendants in these 3 groups have 1, 2, or 3 subsidiaries.
  With 1 exception, where there is 1 subsidiary, it is YB; where there are 2, they are YB and W; and where there are 3, 2 of them are YB and W.
2. For groups 8 and 9, all pendant values are multiples of 3 with most of them being 30. Specifically,
  \[P_{8i}=P_{9i}=30\;\;for\;i\;=\;(1,2,3,5)\]
3. In groups 11-13, the colors within each group alternate. The pendants in group 11 are W, YB, W, YB, ..., etc. Each W pendant has an LB subsidiary.
  Assuming that group 12 is 15 pendants with the 13th non-existent, the repeated color pattern is LB, W, YB with each YB pendant having 2 subsidiaries.
  The first is YB and the second is FB: YB. Finally, the pendants in group 13 have the same color pattern as those in group 11.
4. In groups 11 and 13, some of the values as well as colors alternate. Namely,
  \[P_{i}=P_{i+1},\;P_{i+2}=P_{i+3}\;\;for\;i=(1,\;4)\;in\;group\;11\;and\;i=1\;in\;group\;13 \]
5. In group 12, the first 3 LB colored pendants have consecutive values and, similarly, the first 3 W colored pendants have consecutive values:
  \[P_{i}+1=P_{i+3},\;P_{i+3}+1=P_{i+6}\;\;for\;i=(1,\;2) \]
6. Groups 14-17 each have 5 pendant cords. Each pendant in group 14 is W with an LB subsidiary; pendants in groups 15 and 16 are all W; and those in group 17 are all LB.
7. The values of the pendants in groups 14-17 are of greater magnitude than those on the rest of the khipu.
  With the exception of 1 subsidiary in group 4 of value 50, and 2 pendants in group 7 with values 50 and 7 0, the 148 values in groups 1-13 are limited to 0-30.
  Of the 25 values in groups 14-17, 13 are above 30. Five are 40-50 and 8 are 100-250.

Part III: