Khipu from the Santa Valley

The Khipu of the Santa Valley
A recently studied case suggests that the information contained in this group of six colonial khipu from the Radicati collection, which originally come from the Santa Valley, was based on a written document dating from 1670 that details the tax collection records for San Pedro de Corongo, a town located in the upper part of the valley. The written document identifies the names of 131 people from six ayllus grouped into two parcialidades—Hanan and Hurin—that are believed to be represented in the 133 groups of six strings contained in the khipu. The hypothesis also proposes that the form in which the first cord in each group of six is attached to the primary cord—either observe or reverse—indicates the parcialidad to which the individuals belonged. This relationship between written text and khipu opens up a new perspective on forms of encoding practiced during colonial times.