"The Incas can be characterized as methodical, highly organized, concerned with detail, and

intensive data users. The Inca bureaucracy continuously monitored the areas under its control.

They received many messages and sent many instructions daily. The messages included details of

resources such as items that were needed or available in storehouses, taxes owed or collected,

census information, the output of mines, or the composition of work force. The messages were

transmitted rapidly using the extensive road system via a simple, but effective, system of runners...

The message had to be clear, compact, and portable. Quipu-makers were responsible for

encoding and decoding the information. A quipu is an assemblage of colored knotted cotton

cords... The colors of the cords, the way the cords are connected together, the relative placement

of the cords, the spaces between the cords, the types of knots on the individual cords, and the relative

placement of the knots are all part of the logical-numerical recording."