Quipus, also known as khipus or talking knots, were recording devices historically used in a number of cultures and particularly in the region of Andean South America.
Similar systems were used by the ancient Chinese and native Hawaiians,[3] though this article specifically deals with the most familiar Inca system, and knotted string records are often generically referred to in English as quipus after the Inca term. A quipu usually consisted of colored, spun, and plied thread or strings made from cotton or camelid fiber. For the Inca, the system aided in collecting data and keeping records, ranging from monitoring tax obligations, properly collecting census records, calendrical information, and military organization. The cords contained numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base ten positional system. A quipu could have only a few or up to 2,000 cords.

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