Quipu. Quipus (or khipus), sometimes called talking knots, were recording devices historically used in the Andean region of South America. They usually consisted of coloured spun and plied thread or strings made from llama or alpaca hair. It could also be made of cotton cords. The cords contained numeric and other values encoded by knots in a base ten positional system. Quipus might have just a few or up to 2,000 cords.