L3
讲座
1. What is the lecture mainly about?
Similarities between ancient Incan and ancient Egyptian counting systems
Attempts to determine what kind of information Incan knipus conveyed
A scholarly debate about whether khipus were used to store information
Aspects of Incan culture that were revealed by recently discovered khipus
2. What did Locke claim to have figured out?
That khipus were one of many record-keeping systems used by the ancient Inca for
different administrative purposes
That the vast majority of khipus contain at least one five-knot pattern
That different colors on khipus represent specific pieces of information
That the type and location of knots in khipu cords represent numbers
3. Why did some people initially doubt the hypothesis that Khipu’s contained a writing system?
They believed that the purpose of khipus had been fully explained several decades earlier.
The hypothesis was not supported by evidence.
The hypothesis contradicted all of Locke’s ideas about khipus.
About 200 khipus could not be explained by the hypothesis.
4. Why does the professor talk about rock climbing?
To cite an activity that was probably practiced in the Incan Empire
To point out that researchers must be very patient and persistent
To explain how an important group of khipus was discovered
To emphasize the role of teamwork in anthropological research
5. Why does the professor mention the name Barbara?
To give credit to the developer of the suffix-tree method
To point out one of the weaknesses of the suffix-tree method
To help explain how the suffix-tree method works
To show how to represent a complex word with just three types of knots
6. What does the professor imply about using pattern repetition as a method to
decode Khipu’s?
It is unlikely to add to the researchers’ knowledge about the meaning of khipus.
It has already conclusively proved that khipus contain words and stories.
It may be helpful, since it has enabled researchers to decode scripts in the past.
It must be combined with newer research methods.
