Inka Numbers, Khipu, and Yupana: a Reanalysis
We review the history of decipherment on the technologies used for numbers by the Inkas – khipus and yupanas. We offer a novel interpretation of the portable “checkerboard” yupana drawn in 1615, revealing a numerical algorithm. This analysis sheds new light on the Inka number system, questioning its...
| Authors: | ; |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
2025
|
| In: |
Journal of cognition and culture
Year: 2025, Volume: 25, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 128-158 |
| Further subjects: | B
khipu
B Guamán Poma B Inka B decipherment B cultural numbers B yupana |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) Volltext (kostenfrei) |
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| 520 | |a We review the history of decipherment on the technologies used for numbers by the Inkas – khipus and yupanas. We offer a novel interpretation of the portable “checkerboard” yupana drawn in 1615, revealing a numerical algorithm. This analysis sheds new light on the Inka number system, questioning its inclusion of a concept of zero and its interpretation as a positional system. We conclude that Inka numbers and computational methods were likely non-positional, analogous to Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, and Roman numbers. We show the Inka multiplication method as similar to – but more efficient than – the Egyptian method in the Rhind Papyrus. This analysis shows the Inka number system to have ranked among the great mathematical traditions of the ancient world. | ||
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