The Inca used which system of knotted cords for communication and record-keeping?

• A. Quipu
• B. Pictographs
• C. Tally Sticks
• D. Alphabetic Script

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is recognizing how the Inca kept records and communicated data without a writing system: they used a quipu, a system of knotted cords. A quipu consists of a main cord with many subsidiary cords and knots. The knots and their positions encode numbers, often in a base-10 system, while colors and the arrangement of cords help categorize information like taxes, populations, or goods. This tool allowed administrators to tally vast resources and census data across the empire, making it an effective record-keeping method in a pre-alphabetic society.

Pictographs are pictures used to convey meaning visually, which isn’t what the Inca system relied on. Tally sticks are single sticks with notches and don’t involve knotted cords. An alphabetic script would mean a writing system based on letters, which the Inca did not use in their administration, relying instead on the quipu for numeric and categorical records.