Up until the time of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, Inca communities in the Andean highlands used a peculiar form ...

For hundreds of years, Andean people recorded information by tying knots into long cords. Will we ever be able to read them?

Researchers studying an ancient form of string-writing used in pre-Columbian South America have unraveled new clues to a ...

like a rosary -- that was used by the ancient conquerors to record census, tribute, genealogies and calendrical information. Because the Inca didn't employ a recognizable system of writing ...

[Gallery: Tracing the Ancient Incan Empire ... city in the place of Cuzco. While the Inca did not develop what we would consider a formal system of writing, they did use recording devices ...

The Atlantic has a fascinating deep dive into khipus — long cords that the Inca tied knots into to preserve information. Few ...

While ancient cities in other empires had dramatic ... A state official would record each tax using the Inca's unique writing system, known as khipu, which consisted of tying very precise knots ...

The ancient ... at the Inca spring and the canal, a canal that led for 2,500 feet to Fountain Number One and all the way down to Number 16. I saw not just a water-carriage system but a well ...