Subject:      Re: silence about Inca writing?
From:         yuku@mail.trends.ca (Yuri Kuchinsky)
Date:         1997/05/19
Message-ID:   <5lq67n$kl7$1@trends.ca>
Newsgroups:   sci.archaeology.mesoamerican,sci.archaeology

	...

The following quotation from Busto summarizes Jara's research and
expresses his opinion on the matter. I typed in the Spanish, and may have
made a few mistakes. Please point them out to me if such is the case.
Perhaps you, or someone else, would be kind enough to provide a good
translation for us? 

      Para terminar solo faltaria ocuparnos de la tesis de la
      estudiosa peruana Victoria de la Jara, sobre que los hombres
      de la Cultura Paracas, utilizando sus tejidos, tuvieron un
      sistema de escritura. Dicha escritura -- segun la citada
      investigadora -- seria la mas antiqua de America, habiendo
      luego evolucionado a traves de las Culturas Nazca y Mochica
      para desaparecer con la expansion Tiahuanaco, Cultura que, a
      su vez, habria impuesto sus propios simbolos que determinaron
      una posterior grafia entre los Incas. La tesis de Victoria de
      la Jara se muestra temeraria y espectacular, pero su
      planteamiento documentado hecho al frances Marcel Cohen, al
      aleman Thomas S. Barthel y al mexicano Daniel Cazes -- todos
      especialistas maximos en la materia -- le han merecido
      respuestas afirmativas, coincidiendo los tres eruditos en que
      se trata de una "verdadera escritura". ... De todas maneras,
      enorgulleceria saber, en definitiva, que mientras los demas
      hombres de nuestro continente todavia pintaban burdos
      ideogramas en las piedras, ya el de la Cultura Paracas
      escribia sobre sus telas.
            (Jose Antonio del Busto, PERU PREINCAICO, Lima, 1968, p.
            121)

The flourishing of Tiahuanaco happened around 800-1000 ce. According to
Busto, 1096 was the date of the establishment of the kingdom of the Inca
Manco Capac in Cusco. This Inca may also have held a ritual title of
Pachacutec. So in such a case, he would have been the king that that
(confusing) German quote referred to. In any case, this may be about the
period when the South American writing systems declined and/or were
outlawed by Inca state decree. This is the best I can do at this point to
establish the chronology of those writing systems.

Please understand that this is research in progress.

Best regards,

Yuri.

Yuri Kuchinsky   | "Where there is the Tree of Knowledge, there
     -=-         | is always Paradise: so say the most ancient
 in Toronto      | and the most modern serpents."  F. Nietzsche
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