The Inca used which system for accounting and administrative control?

• A. Abacus
• B. Parchment ledgers
• C. Quipu
• D. Roman numerals

Answer: (C)

The method tested is how the Inca kept track of people, resources, and obligations without a writing system, using a specialized knot-recording device. Quipu were knotted cords of various colors and arrangements that administrators used to encode numbers and categories. They could track things like population, tribute, agricultural yields, and labor obligations across the vast empire, making it possible to oversee taxes, mit’a labor, and state resources efficiently. The system is foundational to Inca administration because it provided a portable, updateable way to store and transfer quantitative information across provinces, even though the Inca did not develop a writing system of characters.

Abacus, parchment ledgers, and Roman numerals don’t fit the Inca context. An abacus is a calculation tool associated with other cultures, parchment ledgers imply a literacy-based writing system and use of written records, and Roman numerals come from a different civilization. Quipu uniquely matches how the Inca organized and controlled their empire’s accounting and administration.