Inca quipu gets cultural heritage status in Peru

LIMA, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- The quipu, an intriguing method of keeping records and accounts invented by Peru's ancient Inca civilization, was officially granted national cultural heritage status at a ceremony on Saturday.

At the ceremony, Angela Acevedo, an official from the Peruvian Ministry of Culture, said the ministry's ultimate goal is to "look after our main cultural expressions and manifestations" so they can "preserve our identity."

Made of a horizontal string with tens or hundreds of other strings hanging from it, the quipu was used by the Incas to convey or record information using different colored strings and a variety of knots.