We live in a time when the word “empire” is often associated with corruption and decay. Yet, when we think of the Incas, the perception often shifts. Spanish chronicles frequently portrayed them as a people of high morality, who abhorred homosexuality. But was that the whole story? The official history of the Tahuantinsuyo, the Inca...Read More

To the modern eye, it’s just a tangle of knotted cords. A manojo of alpaca and cotton threads, colorful and complex, but ultimately primitive. An artifact for a museum display case. The official story we were all taught is that the quipu was a mnemonic device, a kind of three-dimensional Andean abacus used for tracking...Read More