Keep Kamayo - Keep Kamayo

...This was called a quipu, and the knots on the string indicated the place of the digits, and the color of the string indicated the contents of the item. Quipus were used to record and keep statistics on everything, such as population censuses, statistics on the amount of grain stored in grain warehouses, the number of troops, and the amount of gold collected. There were also experts called quipu kamayos who read these statistics. Knots were also used in various ways to measure the speed of a ship. For example, the unit of measurement for a ship's speed was called a knot, and it was named after the fact that a ship's speed was measured by counting the knots of the string that were let out in a certain amount of time after it was let out.

*Some of the terminology that mentions "Keep Kamayo" is listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…これはキープquipuと呼ばれ，紐上の結びの位置による桁の表示，さらに紐の色分けによって物品の内容を表現した。このキープをつかって人口調査や統計，穀物倉庫の貯蔵量，軍隊の数，採金の量などあらゆるものを記録し，統計をとって保存していたが，それを読む〈キープ･カマヨ〉と呼ばれる専門家もいた。結びは計測上でも各方面に利用され，たとえば船舶の速度を表す単位を〈ノットknot〉というが，船から紐を流し一定の時間に繰り出された紐の結び目を数えて船の速さを計測したところから名づけられた。…

※「キープ・カマヨ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報