Yupana

Several boards of wood and stone as the one depicted here are found in the archaeological records, though their exact function has yet to be clarified. There is ample evidence that suggests that the Incas made architectural models as prototypes or replicas; it seems that this practice continued during the Colonial period. On the other hand, the historian Carlos Radicati di Primeglio proposed that this kind of pieces is a type of calculator comparable with the Chinese abacus. These boards have been given the name of yupana, which derives from the Quechua word yupany, which means to count. (CP)