DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5037551
title: The Open Khipu Repository

description: Release v2.1.0 changes:

This release adds new khipu data to the OKR, expands KH number coverage, and includes structural and documentation updates. A total of 72 new KH numbers (KH0631–KH0702) were assigned following Advisory Board review, with corresponding data files added and a master KH number registry created. OKR dataset contributor information was updated to reflect the newly added khipu data, and the README was revised to update Advisory Board information.

Description of Repository

The Open Khipu Repository (OKR) is a digital archive for open-source data and metadata on extant Inka-style khipus from archaeological contexts across the Andes, as well as from museum collections worldwide. Inka khipus were unique pre-Columbian Andean recording devices that used three-dimensional signs—like knots, cords, and colors—as symbolic media functionally comparable to early writing systems elsewhere in the world. Spanish chronicles and modern scholarship indicate that khipus were used to record accounting information, administrative data, and historical narratives. While the khipu recording system remains undeciphered, the OKR exists to support open, accessible, and computationally driven khipu research.

A list of known data contributors is available here. If you have recorded khipu data included in the repository but are not listed, please contact the OKR team at okr-team@googlegroups.com. The data in this repository will continue to grow as additional khipus are documented and as their data are made openly available.

KH Number Assignment Process

The OKR only assigns KH numbers to khipus whose data are made publicly available. KH numbers provide a stable, unique identifier for khipus with open-source data. To request a KH number, recorded khipu data should be submitted to the OKR via email at okr-team@googlegroups.com.

To qualify for a KH number:



The khipu must not already have a KH number assigned. The OKR will accept re-recordings or new data submissions for khipus that already have KH numbers for inclusion in its data archives, but such submissions will not result in the assignment of a new KH number.

The submitter must agree to make the data publicly available through the OKR.


OKR Advisory Board

All new data releases and KH number assignments are overseen by the Open Khipu Repository Advisory Board, which currently consists of Carrie Brezine, Mackinley FitzPatrick, Iván Ghezzi, Sabine Hyland, Manuel Medrano, and Jeffrey Splitstoser. The OKR repository is administered by the Open Khipu Research Laboratory under the direction of Mackinley FitzPatrick (mackfitzpatrick@fas.harvard.edu).

Ethics, Positionality, and Commitments

A part of the OKR Advisory Board's mission is to positively influence the field of khipu studies in ways that are inclusive and respectful of all interested scholars. We recognize that the data in the OKR were not collected in a vacuum. The existence of the OKR is a result of power structures within the global discipline of Anthropology and of academia more generally. The data compiled here reflect funding disparities between scholars at different levels and between institutions in different countries. They reflect geographic privilege and economic privilege, for instance in scholars' disparate access to travel. The OKR is itself one artifact of colonialist Archaeology and Anthropology as practiced by North American and European scholars. It is also a product of unfortunate linguistic distancing—we are well aware that native speakers of Andean languages have so far had little involvement in collecting the data in the OKR. We hope to change this as the field of khipu studies continues to evolve.

In the wake of recent allegations of widespread sexual harassment within the field of khipu studies, Andean studies, Anthropology, and academia generally, the OKR Advisory Board wishes to make it clear that we do not tolerate sexual harassment by members of the board or by those with whom we collaborate. We deplore the role that sexual exploitation and abuse have played in the compilation of this database in the past. We unequivocally condemn all forms of gender-based harassment and abuse. We do not tolerate discrimination based on sexual identity, gender, nationality, or ethnic identity. The OKR recognizes the patriarchal colonialist legacy of Anthropology and related disciplines, and we will actively work against the perpetuation of colonialist norms in Andean Studies.

Our goal is to make the field of khipu studies open, inclusive, and safe for all scholars. To achieve that:



We will not collaborate with scholars against whom there are credible allegations of sexual harassment.

We will not collaborate with scholars against whom there are credible allegations of bullying or other identity-based discrimination or harassment.

We recognize that khipu are not solely Peruvian. We will use language that does not exclude other Andean countries that consider khipu a part of their material heritage.

We will include Andean scholars on the board whenever possible.

We are in the process of implementing a more neutral khipu identification system (i.e., KH numbering) that does not privilege the initials of scholars in each khipu name.

We will actively work towards making the OKR available to all scholars with interest, recognizing that true accessibility will take time.

We will commit to making OKR documentation publicly accessible and available in multiple languages, beginning with English and Spanish.