An Ethnomathematics Exercise for Analyzing a Khipu Sample from Pachacamac (Perú)

Abstract

A khipu sample studied by Gary Urton embodies an unusual division into quarters. Urton‟s research findings allow us to visualize the information in the pairing quadrants, which are determined by the distribution of Sand Z-knots, to provide overall information that is helpful for identifying the celestial coordinates of the brightest stars in the Pleiades cluster. In the present study, the linear regression attempts to model the relationship between two variables (which are determined by the distribution of the S- and Z-knots). The scatter plot illustrates the results of our simple linear regression: suggesting a map of the Pleiades represented by seven points on the Cartesian coordinate plane.

Keywords

• Inca khipu
• Linear regression analysis
• Celestial coordinate system
• Pleiades