UR1114/KH0128

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Khipu Notes Exist - See Below

Original Name: AS114
Original Author: Marcia & Robert Ascher
Museum: Museum für Völkerkunde, Berlin
Museum Number: VA16148
Provenance: Unknown
Region: Between Ica and Pisco
Total Number of Cords: 357
Number of Ascher Cord Colors: 13
Benford Match: 0.403
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Datafile: UR1114

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Khipu Notes

Ascher Databook Notes:
  1. This is one of several khipus acquired by the Museum in 1904 with provenance between Ica and Pisco. For a discussion of them, see UR1098.
  2. By spacing, there are 4 groups of pendants. The first 2 groups have 10 and 9 pendants respectively. The next 2 groups have 160 pendants each. By color, each of the latter groups are separated into 16 sets of 10 pendants each.
  3. All pendants in groups 1 and 2 are zero-valued (or blank). A prepared pendant blank, the color of the pendants in group 2, was stored with the khipu. If this was intended for group 2, the khipu would be 340 pendants separated into 16, 16, and 2 sets of 10 pendants each.
  4. The 2 groups of 160 pendants have the same color pattern with 1 exception. The pattern is 10 pendants of each color in the following order: B, W, HB, B, YB: B, B, G0, B, YB, B, W, CB, B, CB: B, GY:W, HB: CB. The exception is that in the first group, the 5th and 6th colors are interchanged.
  5. The 2 groups of 160 pendants have many of the same values in corresponding positions. In each of them, the 10 values in each of the 2nd, 6th, and 16th sets are zero; the first 5 values in each of the 4th, 5th, 8th, 10th, 11th, and 12th sets are zero; and pendants

    P11, P46, P56, P76, P87, P91, P98-P9,10, P10,6, P10,8 - P10,10, P13,1 - P13,3, and P13,7 - P13,9

    are all 0. The same non-zero values occur in both groups in the following positions:

    P12-P16, P31, P34, P71, P12,6, P12,8, and P14,2

    Thus, 90 of 160 positions have the same pendant values.

  6. The 2 groups of 160 pendants also have similarly placed subsidiaries. The first group has 10 subsidiaries and the second has 8. Seven of each are in corresponding positions in both groups and, with 1 exception, are the same color.
  7. In both of the 160 pendant groups, the long knots on the f1rst 10 pendant cords are positioned differently than on the other cords in the group. The clusters are higher on the cords so that they are where the others would have single knot clusters. (Note from #5 above, that 6 of these 10 values are the same in both groups.)