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Posted on 03/29/2026 11:30:38 PM PDT by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
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for years I lived with the Inca and Aztecs in Southern California— I’m pretty sure they didn’t invent anything. That’s my analysis from observation.
The abacus, the astrolabe, and the Antikythera mechanism all predate the Incan device by several centuries.
And men have counted on their fingers since Adam & Eve. Sumerians and Babylonians did arithmetic in sexagesimal (base 60) by using the five fingers on one hand to count the 12 joints on the other (which is why the metric system can't get rid of the 60-minute hour and the 60-second minute).
So it all depends on wherre you stick the pin and say this is a computer.
The first practical calculating device, other than pen and ink, was the slide rule, invented in EUROPE (YUK!) about four hundred years ago.
...as well as why there are 12 hours in each half-day (and 24 hours in a whole one).
Thanks!
The Greek Antikythera device is over 2000 years old.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Antikythera-mechanism
Here’s the bio of the author: “Freelancer
Elizabeth Rayne is a creature who writes. Her work has appeared in Popular Mechanics, Ars Technica, SYFY WIRE, Space.com, Live Science, Den of Geek, Forbidden Futures and Collective Tales. She lurks right outside New York City with her parrot, Lestat. When not writing, she can be found drawing, playing the piano or shapeshifting.” This certainly establishes her credibility.
LOL!
Comical !!!
Computer? I think knott!
What nonsense. An obvious data structure being a data structure is NOT a computer
I find it fascinating as to what is being discovered about ancient civilizations that suggest they were far more advanced than could be expected.
I presume war and politics causes the decline of these civilizations back to a near caveman lifestyle. Look at the USA today, we are but a fraction of the great culture we were 40 years ago or so, all thanks to politics. If the rats have their way, we will be reduced to a 3rd world crap hole in just a few years. Add to it a major nuke war and the whole world could go back to a caveman culture.
But did they actually use that function?
INCA BUSINESS MACHINE
🤣
Ran on Windows 38.
They were screwed when it locked up.
No cord, so no way to unplug it and plug it in to reboot.
Tying and untying knots doesn’t rate really high on the efficiency scale. Nor does that shout out precision. (Have you ever tried to place a knot in a particular position along a string?) The most that this was was a record keeper, not a computer. My guess.
It probably would seem small to you now. My childhood memory of a frisby is a 3 ft diameter object.
I actually heard Africans were the basis of the binary system with their drumbeats. That’s what I heard some black guy on the internet say. Not sure which drum is the 1/0.
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