Inca Quipu

Timeline

1. c. 1438–1530Cusco · CuscoThe Inca Empire used quipus to record provincial populations, storage, tribute, and labor allocations; quipucamayocs read and relayed information at postal relay stations along the imperial road network (Qhapaq Ñan), enabling the center to coordinate the flow of goods from the Andean highlands to the coast — the most sophisticated information infrastructure in pre-Columbian America.
2. 1521–1530Throughout the Andean empire · AndesAfter Huayna Capac's death in the 1520s, during the civil war between Huáscar and Atahualpa the quipu system was still used for military logistics and tribute dispatch. After smallpox arrived via Panama in 1527, the imperial population plummeted but the administrative quipu network was still operating before Pizarro's arrival in 1530 — the native information order the Spanish conquerors subsequently encountered and attempted to exploit.
3. 1530–1580Cajamarca to Lima · PeruAfter Pizarro's expedition and the Cajamarca incident in the 1530s, the colonial authorities initially used quipucamayocs to read tribute and storage records, but soon replaced the quipu's role in official administration with Spanish documents, tax registers, and alphabetic writing. Large numbers of quipus were burned or lost, with only hundreds of archaeological and museum specimens surviving for modern research.