The Inca May Have Invented the World's First Computer System -- 600 Years Ago

Popular Mechanics ^ | March 26, 2026 | Elizabeth Rayne

[SunkenCiv]

Here's what you'll learn when you read this story:

The Inca quipu was a complex system of knotted cords, encoded numerical records and possibly even a full logosyllabic language.

New research demonstrates that the quipu's hierarchical structure can function as a versatile modern computer data structure.

The researchers built working spreadsheets, file systems, and encryption tools powered by quipu data, rivaling conventional computing methods.

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TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: commerce; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; inca; incas; knots; quipu; recordkeeping; string; taxation; trade

[SunkenCiv]

The rest of the quipu keyword, sorted:

• Lock of Hair May Change Knowledge About Inca Recordkeeping [08/28/2025]
• Astronomers find the largest structure in the universe and name it Quipu [02/08/2025]
• Untangling the Ancient Inca Code of Strings [04/20/2017]
• Untangling an Accounting Tool and an Ancient Incan Mystery [01/06/2016]
• Archaeologists find 25 quipus at Inca site in Peru [06/28/2014]
• Village high in the Andes protects ancient Inca puzzle [08/25/2010]
• Fuente Magna (The Rosetta Stone Of The Americas) [01/03/2006]
• Scientists untangle Inca number-strings (Kept Track of Tax Payments) [08/14/2005]
• Did ancient Inca communicate through knots? [08/11/2005]
• Pre-Incas Kept Detailed Records Too [07/20/2005]
• Incan Counting System Decoded? [02/03/2004]
• Incan Counting System Decoded? [01/30/2004]
• Professor Works To Unravel Mysteries Of Khipu: Colored, Knotted Strings Used By The Ancient Incas [01/05/2004]
• Inca May Have Used Knot Computer Code To Bind Empire [06/22/2003]
• ANTHROPOLOGY: Cracking the Khipu Code [06/12/2003]
• The Monolith of Pokotia (Sumerian Language etched on Ancient Mesopotamian Items)! [10/19/2002]

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks for the link!

[Angelino97]

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Summary of original journal article

https://grok.com/share/c2hhcmQtMi1jb3B5_866a239b-4f1a-4931-82f8-38e482e5240f

[Texas_Jarhead]

Didn’t read the source but I’m gonna guess that a people who didn’t discover / invent the wheel didn’t invent a “computer”.

[InkStone]

Thank you for your MANY posts here over a long time. AND your bio : if you love painting, your great segment on Thomas Cole is worth a read - what a Giant of Art he was indeed. Thank you.

[Reverend Wright]

"wE iNVeNTeD tHe cOMpUtEr"

[Jonty30]

I would say the abacus is the world’s first computer. The Inca rope system may be the first computer in the America’s.

A computer is a device that allows you to calculate efficiently. It can come in many forms.

[Callnote]

Why would an advanced life form need wheels?

[Ken Regis]

… and it sounds more like a record-keeping method.

Not a “computer”.

[Az Joe]

Columbus Day 1491?

[equaviator]

"Why would an advanced life form need wheels?"

For the Wright Brothers to have bicycles to repair?

[Adder]

Must be why Pizarro knocked them off with a couple guys with guns...all the Incas were absorbed in their knots...

[abb]

I can see where you can get to double-entry bookkeeping from this. All we need is ink and paper.

[Sacajaweau]

I’m 82. We had a giant abacas in kindergarten. I started school at age 4 yrs 7 months.

[Flavious_Maximus]

Sure, and Wakanda invented vibranium. /spit

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Didn’t read the source but I’m gonna guess that a people who didn’t discover / invent the wheel didn’t invent a “computer”.

I'm gonna bet you didn't either.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Sure, and Wakanda invented vibranium

Not only that, the precursors of Wakanda and vibranium are Wokeandy and AOCikrium

[Jonty30]

I’ve seen Asians do dozens of computations on an abacus every minute. It’s an amazing device in the right hands.

[Skwor]

Or they MAY have NOT invented it.

So many one good sci mags are total pop garbage now.