Pizarro and his followers divided the lands of the Inca among them as well as the booty they found in golden jewelry and sculptures. They also brought priests to convert the lands of Tahwantansuyo to Catholicism. These priests destroyed many of the Quipus calling them the devil's work as they were considered to be used for pagan practices. Not only did the Spanish destroy many Quipus but the Inca themselves burned the huge archive of the emperor's Quipus at the end of the bloody civil war shortly preceding the arrival of Pizarro and his band. The ones that remain and are placed in museums are those found in graves in the dry coastal areas.
None remain in the wet Highlands.
We would not be able to interpret these remaining Quipus at all if it were not for the verbal histories passed down through the generations of what the system of colors, knots, and cords mean. The Quipus that remain link us to the glories and failures of the past and to those whose story might remain unknown if not for these few remaining records.