Prof Sabine Hyland makes exciting new discoveries about khipus

St Mary's Professor Sabine Hyland was recently invited to study centuries-old khipus kept by the community of Santa Leonor de Jucul in the Peruvian Andes.

Khipus are a form of Ancient Inka proto-writing which encode information in knotted, mixed-fibre strings. They are notoriously difficult to interpret, but this latest study has revealed fascinating new insights into khipus, the people who made them, and even the climate history of the region. The British Museum has awarded Professor Hyland an Endangered Material Knowledge grant for her project, Knotted Survivors: Documenting the Ancient Khipu Traditions of Jucul, Peru.

To find out more, be sure to read recent articles featuring Professor Hyland's research in The Atlantic, IFLScience, The Conversation, and University of St Andrews News.

You can also hear Professor Hyland speak about her work on interviews with BBC: Science in Action and ABC's Late Night Live.