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archive is a set of records pertaining to the people of an area who had
common, interrelated interests, and shared practices of accounting and record
keeping.
In the context of khipu, the archive paradigm is based on the hypothesis
that khipu that have a common provenience, or that are known to come from
the same archaeological context, were probably produced by local khipu
keepers or by Inka accountants who were resident in that locale. In either
case, khipu that come from a single site or narrowly defined region can
be considered potentially to bear some historical and/or substantive relationship
to each other. One potential consequence of such relationships is that
the khipu that constitute an archive will likely build on, complement,
duplicate, and possibly even comment on each other.
At present there are only two archives of khipu known to have been found
together: the set of Chachapoyas khipu
from the north of Peru, and the khipu of Puruchuco,
a site on the coast near Lima. Other archives are based on grouping together
khipu from different collections which have the same provenance. There
are three of these archives: Ica, Circum-Ica (khipu from the area immediately
surrounding Ica), and Pachacmac. Though most archives are currently composed
of less than 30 khipu each, there are some clear differences from one
archive to another. As more data are collected, it is possible that the
archive paradigm could be used to suggest provenance for khipu that have
no known origin.
Garcilaso de la Vega, a 17th-century Spanish
chronicler, reported the following about khipu practices:
Although the quipucamayus [khipu-makers/keepers] were as accurate
and honest as we have said, their number in each village was in proportion
to its population, and however small, it had at least four and so upwards
to twenty or thirty. They all kept the same records, and although one
accountant or scribe was all that would have been necessary to keep
them, the Incas preferred to have plenty in each village and for each
sort of calculation, so as to avoid faults that might occur if there
were few, saying that if there were a number of them, they would either
all be at fault or none of them (1966 [1609]:331).
This passage clearly implies that multiple khipu with the same information
existed in one area. Relationships such as matching numerical sequences,
identical color patterning, or similar structure are more likely to be
found between khipu belonging to the same archive than between objects
with different provenance.
More about specific archives can be found on these pages:
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The Puruchuco Archive: an Accounting Hierarchy
Seven of the 21 khipu found at Puruchuco bear an intriguing
relationship to each other. The relationship between these khipu
may be evidence of the movement of information up and down the administrative
structure of the Inka Empire.
Matching Khipu
There are several pairs of khipu that have matching or very
close numeric sequences. Occasionally complete khipu appear to be
duplicates of each other; more frequently, a part of one khipu matches
a segment of another.
More about Matching Khipu >>
The Calendar Khipu and its matches
A particularly large khipu from Chachapoyas, believed to represent
a calendar, incorporates information from two smaller Leymebamba
khipu.
More about the Calendar Khipu >>
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