khipu


khi·pu

or qui·pu (kē′po͞o)n. pl. khipu or khi·pus or quipu or qui·pus A record-keeping device of the Inca Empire consisting of a series of variously colored strings attached to a base rope and knotted so as to encode information, used especially for accounting purposes.
[Quechua khipu, knot.]