Spiral Abalon Necklace

The Quipu, or knot logging (also called khipu), was a method used by the Incas and other ancient Andean cultures to keep records and communicate information. In the absence of an alphabetic writing system, this simple and highly portable device achieved a surprising degree of precision and flexibility. Using a wide variety of colors, strings, and sometimes several hundred knots tied in various ways and at various heights, the quipu could record dates, statistics, accounts, and even abstractly represent key episodes from traditional folk stories and poetry