Katherine Reece Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I pulled out my copy of The Cord Keepers as I knew
> it had more information on the khipu mentioned in
> Splitstoser's paper and found this... I knew I had
> read this somewhere.
>
Quote:
> A khipu (or chinu in Aymara) is an Andean
> information storage device made of cord. The
> concept is not uniquely Andean, and indeed devices
> fitting this minimal definition are attested in
> many cultures. Herodotus mentions one in use
> during the Persian wars. Other cases from peoples
> as far afield as New Mexico Pueblos, the Ryukyu
> Islands, and Hawaii. In the Hebrew Bible, Numbers
> 15:37-38 prescribes knotted “fringes” (tsitsit) as
> a vector of memory. Diffusionists have suggested
> that this far-flung distribution reflects an
> ancient dispersion of an eminently portable
> medium. There is no archaeological trail, though,
> and one could just as well posit independent
> inventions.”
>
> The Cord Keepers by Frank Salomon 2004
> Page 11
>
> I could have sworn I'd read something about a
> central-European find.. I'll keep looking.
>
> Kat
>
> Owner/Head Moderator
> The Hall of Ma'at
> Amun: Co-Owner/Co-Moderator
> Contributing author to Archaeological Fantasies:
> How pseudoarchaeology misrepresents the past and
> misleads the public
> Kat's Personal Site
>
>
> "It is a capital mistake to theorize in advance of
> the facts."


Well, a 'vector of memory' doesn't quite qualify. For another knotted cord to put a dent in the hypothesis, it would have to be held to the same standard that I used in the trans-Pacific examples; the primary requirement being a Tax gatherers instrument. Otherwise, I risk falling into Bernards 'a corded whatever' hell. For instance, a loosening of the definition, and I'd have to include rosary beads, or Islamic worry strings.