Certification: This is to certify that the following essay is my own work and that I have not received any unauthorized assistance with it. Signed Matthew Smith 11/4/15
What can be learned from Quipus? Quipu: Lost in Translation
The lack of an Incan written language greatly hinders our understanding of their ancient civilization. Instead of a writing system it is believed that the Incas used a string based recording instrument known as a quipu. While surely very valuable to the Incas, the symbolic nature of the quipus has left much open to interpretation. Quipus are therefore very limited in the knowledge that they can provide about the Incas. “So, we know very little beyond what archaeology can tell us” (O’Bryan 1). Hirst sums up