Historical+Sources

=Historical Sources=

==="If the writers or transcribers of these texts used khipu as a primary source of information as they claim, traces of the poetics- defined in the original sense as the structural principles of a discourse- of the original khipu account should manifest themselves in observable ways"(Brokaw 114).===

__Guaman Poma de Ayala__

Guaman Poma was an indigenous Andean born into a non-Inca noble family after the Spanish conquest. He had experience working in the colonial administration and worked for the chronicler Martín de Murúa. Among his sources, he claims he relied not only on European writings but also on "the //quipus// and memories and reports of ancient Indians"[los quipos y memorias y rrelaciones de los yndios antiguos] (Guaman Poma [1615] 1987, 8[8]). Guaman Poma traveled extensively throughout his life, writing a letter to the king of Spain, entitled //Nueva corónica y buen gobierno (New Chronicle and Good Government)//. He kept this 1,200 page manuscript with him at all times. It is dated to around 1615. Along with the writing, there is also an amazing amount of pen-and-ink drawings done by Guaman Poma himself.

Among the 398 drawings, there are 4 which clearly depict men holding quipu. Also in the pictures are depicted collcas, used for storage. This supports the idea that they quipu were used for keeping track of goods, and helped the Inca maintain control over resources throughout the Empire.



__Huarochirí Manuscript__



Frank Salomon based part of his research and a major part of his travels on the information written in an untitled, anonymous Huarochirí manuscript. It is written in colonial Quechua, and is dated by Antonio Acosta Rodríguez to 1608 C.E. Its contents includes myths of pre-Christian deities and heroes, and explains the duties of priests (including the knotting of khipus). It is similar to the Maya document Popol Vuh, which was also written during early Spanish colonialism. It is currently held in the Biblioteca Nacional in Madrid, Spain. The author of this document was probably recruited by Father Francisco de Avila to document non-Christian practices, according to Salomon. For more on Frank Salomon's work, go [|here].

(Images taken from [])