Hyland Sabine, Lee Kit, Koon Hannah, Laukkanen Sanna, Spindler Luke
St Mary's College, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9AJ, UK.
Department of Anthropology, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200062, China.
Sci Adv. 2025 Aug 15;11(33):eadv1950. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adv1950. Epub 2025 Aug 13.
This study presents previously unknown evidence about the social status of Inka-era khipu experts. A lack of physical evidence hinders our understanding of the specialists who made Inka khipus (knotted cords that served as writing). On the basis of primarily Spanish-language colonial chronicles, it is thought that khipus were created exclusively by male bureaucratic elites. We analyzed Inka khipu, KH0631, whose primary cord is composed of human hair. Historically, human hair on a khipu served as a "signature" to indicate the khipu's creator. Recent advances in elemental analysis-isotope ratio mass spectrometry allowed us to undertake simultaneous carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur measurements from a single KH0631 hair sample, revealing that this individual consumed a diet characteristic of low-ranking commoners. This finding suggests that commoners participated in Inka khipu production.
本研究展示了关于印加时代奇普专家社会地位的此前未知的证据。实物证据的匮乏阻碍了我们对制作印加奇普（用作书写的打结绳索）的专家的理解。基于主要是西班牙语的殖民编年史，人们认为奇普完全由男性官僚精英制作。我们分析了印加奇普KH0631，其主绳由人类毛发组成。从历史上看，奇普上的人类毛发用作“签名”以表明奇普的创造者。元素分析——同位素比率质谱法的最新进展使我们能够从单个KH0631毛发样本中同时进行碳、氮和硫的测量，结果显示此人的饮食具有低等级平民的特征。这一发现表明平民参与了印加奇普的制作。
