The Quipus of Tupicocha: Beyond History Documentary

During the conquest, the Spaniards, initially interested in these objects (since they saw them as textile books that could be useful as an intercultural bridge) eventually wanted to dissapear them, although they did not manage to stop the quipus from existing during the Colony: today in Quipus of relatively recent manufacture, apparently Republican, can be found today in places like Rapaz or in the small town of Tupicocha, just three hours from the Capital. Frank Salomon, who has investigated the customs of this town, refers to these not as dead technology but as an example of life after the death of the media, since these quipus would have been imbued with a new meaning by having a role in force in the community and in this way they have continued to be used, especially on the festival known as Huayrona (in the case of Tupicocha). It is worth mentioning that in that town, in a somewhat surreptitious way and guardedly guarded by a few, the strange tradition of seeing the future through the reading of their quipus as an oracle has been maintained, by means of a divinatory technique that Salomon called “Khipumancy”.

The Quipus of Tupicocha: Beyond History

It is surprising that, even if the town is relatively close to the capital of Peru, this customs have maintained rather untouched and were not really known beyond the area until Frank Salomon, American anthropologist, heard stories of an ancient tradition being celebrated there, when visiting adjacent towns. It is due to his book “The Quipucamayos” that the Huayrona ceremony is popularized, by now receiving a handful of tourists per year. This documentary was filmed in January, 2020, a special date for Tupicochans as the representatives of the Peruvian Ministry of Culture came to the event, as they tradition has been recognized as National Heritage Patrimony. In his book, Salomon talks about the afterlife of media, in this case, Quipus: this is a concept that permeates all throughout the “Knots of Code” project, as it is intimately linked to this afterlife of data-related technologies.