It’s A Hard KNOT Life
Off the coast of Lima, Peru in the Valley of the Lurín River, lies an archaeological site by the name of Pachacamac. This archaeological site was named after the “Earth Maker”, Pacha Kamaq. Pacha Kamaq was known as their creator god around A.D. 200. Pachacamac thrived for only about 1,300 years until an invasions by the Spanish.
Archaeologists began excavating this archaeological site back in the 1890’s. The Painted Temple, the Temple of the Sun, and the Old Temple of Pachcamac, are three pyramids of Pachacamac that were held scared and are the most popular spots for excavations. Of the three, the Temple of the Sun proves to be the most scared, as it was built by the Inca respect for Pacha Kamaq.
The Temple of the Sun, has unfortunately been damaged by looting ad the El Nino weather phenomenon but there has been some findings of what seems to be sacrifices of women and children. Along with the alleged sacrifices have been burial goods. …show more content…
The word Khipu comes from the Quechua word for “knot" and denotes both singular and plural. Khipu are textile artifacts composed of cords of cotton or occasionally camelid fiber. (http://khipukamayuq.fas.harvard.edu/WhatIsAKhipu.html) The overall structure mainly includes a primary cord, with some cord grouping attached. And attached to those groups may be subsidiaries and knots. The cords are usually group by a number of pendants. These pendants are spun and plied with multiple or solid colors. The knots that are seen on the pendants are either, single, long, figure-eight knots. And they are used mostly to record numeric values on a Khipu cord. However, for the people of Pachcamac a knot may have meant way more than