Hair-based recordkeeping system may have been used by Inka elites and commoners alike

Before databases and spreadsheets, people had to find other ways to keep track of information. One of the more interesting recording-keeping systems was the khipu—a cord made of human hair from which additional cords were hung with knots indicating decimal numbers. These khipu were common among elite individuals in the Inka empire in western South America.

Some accounts of khipu use were given in chronicles of Spanish language colonial observers, which indicated that khipu were only used and created by elite male bureaucrats (called khipukamayuqs) at the time.

This remained the common assumption, despite one account by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala, an Indigenous chronicler, claiming that women also made khipus. By the 19th and 20th centuries, however, it is known that lower-status individuals, like hacienda laborers and peasants, also made khipus.

Until recently there was very little direct evidence indicating who made khipus, although it was known that the human hair incorporated into the khipu served as a “signature”—indicating that whoever was using the khipu was the person that made it. Because of this, researchers would expect the hair in a khipu to belong to an elite man. However, when researchers recently tested a khipu, that’s not what they found.

For the study, published in Science Advances, a group of researchers analyzed a Late Horizon Inka-style khipu using radiocarbon dating and isotope ratio mass spectrometry to measure carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur in a sample of the hair to give them clues about when and where this person lived and what their diet consisted of.

The radiocarbon dating indicated that the khipu dated back to around 1500 and that the person had a diet consisting mostly of tubers and greens. This is in contrast to the diet of the Inka elite, who would have had a more meat and maize-based diet. This diet was much more in line with a commoner of the time. They were also able to determine where the person likely lived.

“Our results indicate that the individual lived between 2600 and 2800 m. In other words, the individual lived in the highlands, relatively far from the Pacific Ocean,” the researchers write. “This finding correlates with the low level of marine resources in the diet. Our results also suggest that the individual lived in southern Peru or northern Chile.”

These results challenge long-held assumptions about social exclusivity in ancient record-keeping in the Inka empire, although more evidence is needed. Little else is known about this particular individual, as the khipu’s origins are unclear. Further isotope analysis of additional khipus could provide more clarity about the diversity of khipu makers.

© 2025 Science X Network

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