QUIPUS (Khipus, Qippos); the

See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient Peruvian name for a method of recording which was in use at the

See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time of the arrival of the Spaniards. It consisted of a

See also:

• CORD (derived through the Fr. corde, from the Lat. chorda, Gr. xop(5rt, the string of a musical instrument)

cord two feet in length to which were attached a

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• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

series of knotted-strings (Peruv. quipu, a

See also:

• KNOT
• KNOT (O.E. cnotta, from a Teutonic stem knutt; cf. " knit," and Ger. knoten)

knot)  hanging like a fringe . These strings were coloured, and the knots, their number and size, their distance apart, the colours, the order in which the coloured threads hung, all had a signification, e.g. white was silver, yellow gold; white meant peace, red war, &c . In this manner a rough register of important events, of births, deaths and marriages, and other statistics was kept, the quipus even constituting a rude history of the' people . They were also much used for conveying orders to military chiefs in the provinces . The idea of knotted strings to aid memory is so simple that it is common to many peoples . A Pelew islander, visiting England, knotted strings as a diary of all that struck him during his travels . In the Hawaiian Islands native carriers have knotted-string records of their rounds . The Peruvian quipus is simply the perfecting of a system of mnemonics common to the Red Indians . See also WAMPUM .