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The Mayans were writing with knotted rope around 1900BCE, so I would very much say it wouldn't be beyond possibility. Most of the early use was for tracking the
by shakna 2y ago
The Mayans were writing with knotted rope around 1900BCE, so I would very much say it wouldn't be beyond possibility. Most of the early use was for tracking the seasons for religious rites - a pressure for developing writing that would exist across most early cultures.
- WalterBright 2y agoI wonder about the knotted rope. How much information could it contain? Not very much. It's hard to imagine it being very useful.
- r14c 2y agoNot sure which technology OP is talking about, but quipu at least are can store information like census records and dates. Similar concept. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quipu
- shakna 2y agoWe haven't altogether decoded them, so the answer to that is up in the air. However it does appear to use something akin to decimal for numbers, but the encodings use numbered knots, colours, and positioning within a larger weave. Around 60k variations have been found. However, there can also be some thousands of braids within larger weaves. The depth of the information contained can be debated, but as the Spanish utilised the related quipu following their invasion, for their own record keeping needs, it is "of use". (The Spanish used those for tracking crop growth, timelines, deliveries, royal decrees, family trees, and spread of illnesses in remote areas. They're also still used in some religious sects today.)
- r14c 2y agoCould you give more info about this tech? I can't find any reference to Maya knot writing.