Archaeological Investigation
The archaeologist Gary Urton noted in his 2003 book Signs of the Inka Khipu that he estimated "from my own studies and from the published works of other scholars that there are about 600 extant khipu in public and private collections around the world."
According to the Khipu Database Project undertaken by Harvard professor Gary Urton and his colleague Carrie Brezine, 751 quipus have been reported to exist across the globe. Their whereabouts range from Europe to North and South America. Most are housed in museums outside of their native countries, however some reside in their native locations under the care of the descendants of those who made the mystery knot records. The largest collection of all is found in western Europe at the Berlin Ethnologisches Museum in Berlin, Germany, with a reported 298 quipus. The next largest collection in Europe can be seen at the Museum für Völkerkunde in Munich. Pachacamac in Peru and the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia, Antropologia e Historia in Lima, Peru, each house 35 quipus and the Centro Mallqui in Leymebamba, Peru, holds a collection of 32. The Museo Temple Radicati, Lima, Peru, houses 26, the Museo de Ica, Ica, Peru, has 25 and the Museo Puruchuco, Ate, Peru, has 23. While patrimonial quipu collections have not been accounted for in this database, their numbers are likely to be unknown. One prominent patrimonial collection held by the Rapazians of Rapaz, Peru, was recently researched by University of Wisconsin–Madison professor, Frank Salomon. The Anthropology/Archaeology department at the University of California at Santa Barbara also holds one quipu.
Read more about this topic: Quipu