The Accounting Review Vol. 39 No. 2 1964
THE INCAN QUIPU.
Abstract
The article focuses on "quipu," a record-keeping device used by the Inca Indians, one of the more interesting old civilizations in the Western Hemisphere. Incas provide one with another fascinating story of the development of accounting. The modern accountant, surrounded with his electronic equipment, needs the perspective provided by an awareness of the simple tools used by record-keepers of the past. The present is often much more meaningful when one understands the past. The presence of electronic equipment especially is more thought provoking when considered in the light of the quipu, a simple Incan counting device of knotted strings widely used less than five hundred years ago. The knot record consisted of a main cord to which were attached knotted pendent cords. Knots on the hanging strings recorded, for example, the number of people in a village or the inventory in a storehouse. On these pendent cords, knots would be made, and these knots represented different numbers, their value depending mostly upon their distance from the main cord.
- DOI
- 10.2308/tar-7107123
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 414-416
- Language
- en
- Sources
- openalex crossref