When the Spanish invaded, they decided these bundles of strings and knots were idolatrous and pagan, in opposition to the Catholic Church. They burned them, hoping to quell any thought of resistance.

Archaeology & History The Math—and Mystery—Behind an Ancient Counting Device. The quipu is a traditional Andean counting device that uses colored strings and knots in lieu of paper and numbers.

Astronomers have identified the largest structure in the universe, named Quipu, which spans over 1.3 billion light-years and contains a staggering 200 quadrillion solar masses.

Meet Quipu, a new contender for the largest known structure in the universe. It’s essentially a giant cluster of galaxy clusters stretching approximately 1.3 billion light-years long—more than ...

Quipu's immense length appears to break the previous record set by the "Sloan Great Wall," which stretches around 1.1 billion light years in a much more distant part of the universe.

Newly discovered Quipu, a superstructure in which galaxies group together in clusters and clusters of clusters, is the largest known structure in the universe in terms of length, scientists claim.

Quipu has the same mass as a staggering 200,000,000,000,000,000 copies of the sun, researchers say.