Khipu record-keeping in the Inca state
c. 1450Notable
Inca officials record census, tribute and labor obligations on khipus, knotted cords in a base-10 system. They run a large state without a conventional writing system.
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Longest chain: The Big Bang → First stars ignite → Supernovae seed heavy elements → The Sun forms → Earth forms → First oceans → First life → Photosynthesis evolves → Great Oxidation Event → Complex cells (eukaryotes) → Multicellular life → First animals → Cambrian Explosion → First vertebrates → Jawed fish → Fish walk onto land → The amniotic egg → The Great Dying → Dinosaurs appear → Asteroid ends the dinosaurs → Early primates → Apes split from monkeys → Human line splits from chimpanzees → Walking upright → First stone tools → Genus Homo appears → Homo erectus → Control of fire → First adhesives → String and cordage → Khipu record-keeping in the Inca state
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