From: Tommy Poggio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Fwd: Re: Any idea of who could help? Thanks! Date: Tue, 28 Mar 2006 16:42:53 -0500
>>>>>This is a question from a Globe reporter...anybody with useful >>>>>pointers to relevant experts/people? thanks! t >>>>> 03/27/2006 04:23:13 PM >>>>> >>>>>Dear Tommy -- I am wondering if you know anyone who might be able to help >>>>>me with this? >>>>>I wrote a while ago about a fascinating project focussed on >>>>>deciphering the >>>>>Incan khipu (see below). The basic idea is that they are collections of >>>>>knots used in the Incan empire to record information. It is known that >>>>>some >>>>>of them contain numbers, perhaps recording census data or tax information >>>>>for the empire. But some believe that the knots records language -- >>>>>perhaps >>>>>histories or other narratives. Cracking this code would be hugely >>>>>important, not to mention interesting, because it would open up the still >>>>>very mysterious Incan empire the same way that ancient Egypt has been >>>>>opened up. >>>>>All this is a rather long-winded prelude to my question, which is whether >>>>>there are people out there who are working on computational techniques to >>>>>decipher ancient scripts, not necessarily the khipu problem. I am thinking >>>>>of doing a story on this. >>>>>Any thoughts or leads at all would be most appreciated. It would even be a >>>>>help to talk to someone who has done cryptography who could explain >>>>>how the >>>>>ancient scripts problem would be similar to, and different from, the >>>>>problem of cracking a present-day encryption scheme. >>>>>Let me know if you have any thoughts. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>>Best, >>>>>Gareth >>>>> >>>>>---------------- >>>>> >>>>> SCHOLAR SEES STRANDS OF ANCIENT SECRETS >>>>> Author: By Gareth Cook, Globe Staff Date: 07/04/2003 Page: A1 >>>>> Section: >>>>> National/Foreign >>>>> CAMBRIDGE - For centuries, the mighty Incan empire has confounded >>>>> researchers. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The Incas controlled territory up and down the spine of South >>>>> America, with a >>>>> sophisticated system of tributes and distribution that kept millions fed >>>>> through the seasons. They built irrigation systems and stone temples >>>>> in the >>>>> clouds. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> And yet they had no writing. For scholars, this has been like trying >>>>> to imagine >>>>> how the Romans could have administered their vast empire without >>>>> written Latin. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Now, after more than a decade of fieldwork and research, a professor >>>>> at Harvard >>>>> University believes he has uncovered a language of binary code >>>>> recorded in >>>>> knotted strings - a writing system unlike virtually any other. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The strings are found on "khipus," ancient Incan objects that look >>>>> something >>>>> like mops. About 600 khipus (also spelled "quipu") survive in >>>>> museums and >>>>> private collections, and archeologists have long known that the >>>>> elaborately >>>>> knotted strings of some khipus recorded numbers like an abacus. >>>>> Harvard's Gary >>>>> Urton said the khipus contain a wealth of overlooked information >>>>> hidden in >>>>> their construction details, like the way the knots are tied - and >>>>> that these >>>>> could be the building blocks of a lost writing system which records the >>>>> history, myths, and poetry of the Incas. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The theory has Incan scholars abuzz. The discovery of true Incan >>>>> writing would >>>>> revolutionize their field the same way that deciphering the Egyptian >>>>> hieroglyphics or Mayan glyphs lifted a veil from those >>>>> civilizations. But it >>>>> also has broader interest because the khipus could constitute what >>>>> is, to >>>>> Western eyes, a very unorthodox writing system, using knots and >>>>> strings in >>>>> three dimensions instead of markings on a flat expanse of paper, >>>>> clay, or >>>>> stone. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> "What makes this work so interesting is that what is being expressed >>>>> is being >>>>> conceptualized in such a different way than we conceptualize," said >>>>> Sabine >>>>> MacCormack, a historian of the Romans and the Incas who is a >>>>> professor at the >>>>> University of Notre Dame. "This is about an expression of the human >>>>> mind, the >>>>> likes of which we don't have elsewhere." >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The only way to prove Urton's theory correct would be to translate >>>>> the khipus, >>>>> which no one has yet done. In his new book, he proposes a new method for >>>>> transcribing the knotted strings which he believes could lead to >>>>> breakthroughs. >>>>> And his work, funded in part by a genius grant from the MacArthur >>>>> Foundation, >>>>> has helped fuel a resurgence of scholarly interest in khipus. Later >>>>> this month, >>>>> the Chilean Museum of Pre-Columbian Art in Santiago is opening the >>>>> world's >>>>> first exhibit dedicated to the khipu. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> "We are on the cusp of a very hot period," said Frank Salomon, a >>>>> professor of >>>>> anthropology at the University of Wisconsin who has studied khipus >>>>> extensively. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The khipu mystery dates to the early 16th century, when the Incas were >>>>> conquered by Francisco Pizarro and the Spanish set about destroying >>>>> their >>>>> culture. The missionaries sent to South America tried to eliminate >>>>> all touches >>>>> of the old gods, including the strange stringed textiles that the >>>>> Incas said >>>>> held their histories. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The Spanish chroniclers often exaggerated, but they did record >>>>> histories of >>>>> tributes and other stories they said were "read" to them by >>>>> khipukamayuq - or >>>>> knot keepers - from strings of knots. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> In 1923, researcher L. Leland Locke was able to show that many >>>>> khipus recorded >>>>> numbers like an abacus, with knots in positions representing the >>>>> hundred's, >>>>> ten's, or one's place. He concluded that khipus were an accounting >>>>> tool and >>>>> scholars largely lost interest. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Locke, however, missed many subtleties in the khipus, which could >>>>> make them a >>>>> richer tool for communication, said Urton, whose research was >>>>> described in a >>>>> recent issue of the journal Science, and whose new book is called >>>>> "Signs of the >>>>> Inka Khipu." >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> The attention to khipus has its roots in insights from Marcia and Robert >>>>> Ascher, a husband-and-wife team who began an extensive survey and >>>>> analysis of >>>>> khipus in 1968, and on the observations of Bill Conklin, a textile >>>>> specialist >>>>> at the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., who noticed that khipus >>>>> were spun >>>>> and tied in surprisingly complex and varied ways. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Urton is proposing a system for tackling the meaning of the knots. >>>>> Each knot, >>>>> Urton suggests, can be thought of as a series of decisions, such as >>>>> whether to >>>>> make it of cotton or wool, to tie the knot with a crossing string >>>>> that begins >>>>> in the upper left or the upper right, and to use string that is spun >>>>> clockwise >>>>> or counterclockwise. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Not all scholars are persuaded by Urton's ideas. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> "I don't see that this proposal arises from the actuality of the >>>>> khipus," said >>>>> Marcia Ascher, an emerita professor of mathematics at Ithaca >>>>> College. "I don't >>>>> see it being shown to fit or explain any of them." >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Using money from the National Science Foundation, Urton has undertaken a >>>>> comprehensive project to record as many khipus as possible in great >>>>> detail, >>>>> including the binary information he says could be so important. He >>>>> hopes to >>>>> place it all in a single computer database and give access to other >>>>> scholars >>>>> and the public in the hopes that somebody will see ways to crack the >>>>> code. He >>>>> is being helped by Carrie Brezine, a weaver and database specialist >>>>> who did her >>>>> undergraduate thesis in mathematics. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Last week, Brezine brought in a printout of transcriptions taken >>>>> from khipus >>>>> found recently in a cave overlooking the Lake of the Condors in >>>>> northern Peru. >>>>> As he sat in his office, surrounded by Andean textiles, he noticed >>>>> long strings >>>>> of numbers that were virtually identical on three of the khipus - an >>>>> indication >>>>> that information was being copied from one to another, the way >>>>> medieval scribes >>>>> copied books by hand. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> "It was one of those eureka moments," he said with a boyish grin. >>>>> "This is >>>>> really cool." >>>>> ---------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]