Abstract
What happened to khipus in the wake of the Spanish conquest of Tawantinsuyu? Did the campaigns to extirpate idolatry in the 17th century, when some missionaries burned khipus as heathen idols, combined with the Spanish introduction of an alphabetic scribal culture into Peru, doom khipus to extinction? Khipu use is well attested in colonial court cases up until around 1600 (Pärssinen and Kiviharju 2004; Sempat Assadourian 2002; Curatola and de la Puente Luna 2013), but disappears from court testimony by the early 17th century. Scholars had assumed therefore that khipu use, except for "simple" herders' cords, died out in the Andes at this time. (Khipus for Catholic prayers and confession were created throughout the colonial period, but it is unclear how closely such missionary khipus adhered to Andean khipu semiotics). In 1994, anthropologist Frank Salomon discovered that villagers in Tupicocha, Huarochiri, Peru, had persisted in fashioning Inka style khipus until the early 20th century (Salomon 2004); this revelation broke the question of colonial khipu usage wide open, suggesting that some Andean communities continuously maintained khipu records "out of sight" of the colonial and later republican authorities.
Since Salomon's landmark research in Tupicocha, other examples of post-Inka Andean khipus have come to light. This chapter presents an overview of the highly diverse types of khipus that existed in the colonial and republican periods, from tribute accounts to missives to khipu boards.
Since Salomon's landmark research in Tupicocha, other examples of post-Inka Andean khipus have come to light. This chapter presents an overview of the highly diverse types of khipus that existed in the colonial and republican periods, from tribute accounts to missives to khipu boards.
Translated title of the contribution | Khipus in Colonial and Republican Peru |
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Original language | Spanish |
Title of host publication | Khipus |
Editors | Cecilia Pardo Grau, Gary Urton |
Place of Publication | Lima, Peru |
Publisher | Museo del Arte de Lima |
Chapter | 6 |
Pages | 165-171 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Publication status | Published - 2020 |