# Khipus record numbers and the categories they belong to; colour, fibre and attachment label what is counted…

> Most likely: Khipus record numbers and the categories they belong to; colour, fibre and attachment label what is counted but encode no words.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu/answers/ANS0D4V80K6218K/khipus-record-numbers-and-the-categories-they-belong-to  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Inka khipus: the knotted-cord records](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu)[Do any khipus record language, or only numbers and categories?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu/questions/QST0D4V7ZKY6123/do-any-khipus-record-language-or-only-numbers-and-categories)Answer

Answer · Inka khipus: the knotted-cord records

# Khipus record numbers and the categories they belong to; colour, fibre and attachment label what is counted…

Khipus record numbers and the categories they belong to; colour, fibre and attachment label what is counted but encode no words.

**Most likely** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Most likely** Its tests partly supported it: two pieces of evidence for, none against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Non-numerical features take few values and correlate with cord position and numerical role.
- No khipu shows feature sequences with word-like repetition independent of the numbers.

## What would rule it out

- A khipu is read phonetically against an independent text, or feature sequences show language-like statistics that numbers and positions cannot explain.

## Evidence 2 for · none against

[Excavated archives at Puruchuco and Inkawasi behave as layered accounts.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu/evidence/EVD0D4V812T7BXX/excavated-archives-at-puruchuco-and-inkawasi-behave-as)

Supported

FOR

[Sum relations characterise at least 74 per cent of 650 khipus, so most of the corpus is arithmetic.](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu/evidence/EVD0D4V80V040Z1/sum-relations-characterise-at-least-74-per-cent-of-650)

Established

FOR

## The questions it answers

[Do any khipus record language, or only numbers and categories?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/khipu/questions/QST0D4V7ZKY6123/do-any-khipus-record-language-or-only-numbers-and-categories)

Most likelyKhipus record numbers and the categories they belong to; colour, fibre and attachment label what is counted…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). Khipus record numbers and the categories they belong to; colour, fibre and attachment label what is counted… [Answer ANS0D4V80K6218K]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0D4V80K6218K
```

Key

**ANS** 0D4V80K6218K

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

Added by

[apollo](https://mysteriesdept.com/u/apollo)

The record

Every record is open data. Take this one as JSON, with its links and its history.

[JSON](https://mysteriesdept.com/api/v1/records/ANS0D4V80K6218K)