WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.467 --> 00:00:05.030
These girls are learning to
tie some very special knots.

2
00:00:05.269 --> 00:00:08.369
It's an ancient and
unusual accounting system.

3
00:00:08.480 --> 00:00:11.876
The Incas used it every day —
to count and record goods,

4
00:00:11.876 --> 00:00:14.300
textiles, ceramics, even llamas.

5
00:00:14.310 --> 00:00:17.430
The system is called quipu,
which means “knot " in Quechua.

6
00:00:19.360 --> 00:00:23.480
"The Incas used this as a kind of
tool to manage their empire."

7
00:00:24.113 --> 00:00:28.426
But how can these complex 
structures be decoded —

8
00:00:28.426 --> 00:00:32.207
and were they used for 
more than just counting?

9
00:00:37.177 --> 00:00:39.418
We're heading to Santiago,

10
00:00:39.418 --> 00:00:41.229
the capital of Chile.

11
00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:46.273
This area was once part of the 
southernmost edge of the Incan Empire.

12
00:00:46.726 --> 00:00:50.680
Some ancient quipus are
being kept here, for preservation.

13
00:00:51.080 --> 00:00:56.526
The Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art 
has an especially large one on display.

14
00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:02.540
Archaeologists Varinia Varela and Felipe 
Armstrong are studying the intricate system.

15
00:01:02.540 --> 00:01:05.840
The Incas used quipus to
manage their vast empire.

16
00:01:05.920 --> 00:01:09.410
They didn't have a written language,
but there was plenty to administer —

17
00:01:09.410 --> 00:01:11.420
and to document and record.

18
00:01:12.190 --> 00:01:18.583
"They used it for censuses, animal counts, 
agricultural production, mining, and more.

19
00:01:18.590 --> 00:01:22.720
It allowed the empire to understand
what the provinces needed."

20
00:01:23.319 --> 00:01:27.319
Every community across the empire 
had its own quipucamayocs —

21
00:01:27.319 --> 00:01:30.630
officials responsible for managing
and interpreting the quipus.

22
00:01:30.640 --> 00:01:33.265
Researchers believe they 
passed their knowledge down

23
00:01:33.265 --> 00:01:34.800
 from generation to generation.

24
00:01:34.800 --> 00:01:38.280
Incan messengers, called 
chasquis, brought the quipus

25
00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:40.636
from the provinces  
to the capital, Cusco,

26
00:01:40.636 --> 00:01:43.830
where they were evaluated 
and used for administration.

27
00:01:47.293 --> 00:01:52.900
"The quipus consist of a main cord,
known as the mother rope,

28
00:01:52.900 --> 00:01:55.580
which will hold all 
the hanging threads.

29
00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:59.920
The subsidiary cords
hang from the main cord.

30
00:02:02.510 --> 00:02:07.277
And sometimes those subsidaries 
also have their own branches."

31
00:02:09.460 --> 00:02:13.080
There are different types of knots: 
like simple knots that are formed

32
00:02:13.090 --> 00:02:14.860
by looping the rope.

33
00:02:15.613 --> 00:02:18.353
"You loop it … and then you pull."

34
00:02:18.387 --> 00:02:21.810
Four loops tied in a simple knot 
represent the number four.

35
00:02:22.330 --> 00:02:24.990
"One loop, two loops, three, four."

36
00:02:25.833 --> 00:02:31.236
There's also the figure-eight knot, or double
knot, which represents the number one.

37
00:02:31.893 --> 00:02:36.190
The position of the knots determine
their place value, such as units of

38
00:02:36.200 --> 00:02:39.570
thousands, hundreds, or tens.

39
00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:45.547
"This is one thousand, four hundred,
ninety, and two."

40
00:02:47.087 --> 00:02:52.120
At the museum workshop in Santiago, 
the girls are learning how to tie number knots.

41
00:02:52.353 --> 00:02:55.733
This one is the year
they were born: 2014.

42
00:02:56.466 --> 00:03:00.639
 Although many quipus have
been studied, only a handful

43
00:03:00.639 --> 00:03:02.873
have been fully decoded.

44
00:03:05.350 --> 00:03:07.790
Many questions remain —

45
00:03:07.790 --> 00:03:12.513
like what the different colors, 
shapes,  and materials mean.

46
00:03:15.290 --> 00:03:19.510
"We still don't know what qualitative
elements are being represented.

47
00:03:21.110 --> 00:03:24.217
We know the numbers.

48
00:03:26.173 --> 00:03:33.196
But we don't know whether they refer 
to animals, dishes, taxes, or textiles."

49
00:03:38.133 --> 00:03:43.256
Researchers are still working to 
unravel this ingenious system.

50
00:03:44.837 --> 00:03:49.970
Much of the knowledge about quipus
was lost during the Spanish conquest.

51
00:03:55.603 --> 00:03:59.603
"When the Spanish arrived, they
were mainly interested in territory,

52
00:03:59.603 --> 00:04:03.700
production, and control, so numerical
quipus were most relevant to them.

53
00:04:04.090 --> 00:04:06.606
They didn’t care all that much 
about other kinds of quipus,

54
00:04:06.673 --> 00:04:09.417
 like narrative or astronomical ones."

55
00:04:11.417 --> 00:04:16.960
Some Indigenous communities in Chile 
and Peru still use simple versions of quipus.

56
00:04:17.839 --> 00:04:23.560
In workshops like this, the ancient knowledge 
is being passed on to the younger generation.

57
00:04:23.700 --> 00:04:26.320
The girls are learning there's
another way of counting —

58
00:04:26.320 --> 00:04:28.839
by tying knots that 
are read by touch.

59
00:04:29.110 --> 00:04:33.387
It's hands-on math, 
a legacy of their ancestors.