How Can Spin, Ply, and Knot Direction Contribute to Understanding the Quipu Code?

AbstractEssential to quipu analysis is identification of the logical structure of the quipu and the internal relationships of the data within that structure. The identification process relies on examining, in detail, the colors, placement, and spacing of the quipu cords, and the knot types and positions on the cords. Spin, ply, and knot directionality have recently become available for 59 otherwise well-described quipus. Here, I examine this additional information in the context of the logic of the quipus. Analysis shows that for these quipus, except for three in which the main cord differs from the other cords, spin and ply are uniform for all the cords on a quipu. For the large majority of the quipus (about 81 percent), knot directionality is also uniform throughout. The 19 percent for which knot directionality is mixed are presented and discussed individually. On them, knot directionality conforms to, and plays a role in, the overall logic of the quipu. It is clear that spin, ply, and knot directionality are not chosen by the quipu-maker on a cord-by-cord basis and they do not serve to distinguish between quantitative and non-quantitative data.