Inka Textile Devices Served as Business Ledgers; Computer Analysis Reveals Numerical, Other Patterns in Knotted Objects.

Byline: National Science Foundation

ARLINGTON, Va., Aug. 11 (AScribe Newswire) -- While most ancient cultures recorded civil matters and business transactions by inscribing characters on two-dimensional sheets, new evidence shows Peru's original inhabitants used a three-dimensional system of knotted strings to keep track of things.

In the Aug. 12 edition of the journal Science, Harvard University anthropologist Gary Urton and database developer Carrie Brezine say their computer analysis of 21 of the knotted objects, known as "khipu," revealed distinct patterns that help confirm the textile devices were used for record keeping and to communicate affairs of …