The Inca Empire was conquered by the Spanish in 1532, and only a tiny percentage of ancient Incan khipus have survived. “Kit looked at me and said, ‘Sabine, this primary cord is human hair,'” Hyland recalls. “It’s been pretty controversial to draw this continuity between Inca khipus and modern khipus, partly because of the perception that Inca khipus were made by elites,” says Lee. “Ultimately, this gets us closer to being able to tell Inca histories using Inca sources,” says Medrano. “We need to tell a story of literacy and of writing and of recordkeeping in the Inca Empire that is way more plural, that includes folks who have not been included in the standard narrative.”