National Museum Of The American Indian- Quipu Record Devices of South A...

The light fixtures have a form of the fasces. That symbol is carried out throughout the building. KIPU INKA KNOTS WRITINGS Quipu (also spelled khipu) are recording devices fashioned from strings historically used by a number of cultures in the region of Andean South America. Historic documents indicate that quipus were used for record keeping and sending messages by runner throughout the empire. The color, knot placement and type of cord are all part of the logical numerical reading of the quipu. The fasces, as a bundle of rods with an axe, was a grouping of all the equipment needed to inflict corporal or capital punishment. In ancient Rome, the bundle was a material symbol of a Roman magistrate's full civil and military power, known as imperium. They were carried in a procession with a magistrate by lictors, who carried the fasces and at times used the birch rods as punishment to enforce obedience with magisterial commands. In common language and literature, the fasces were regularly associated: praetors were referred to in Greek as the hexapelekus (lit. 'six axes') and the consuls were referred to as "the twelve fasces" as literary metonymy. Beyond serving as insignia of office, it also symbolized the republic and its prestige Amazing Architecture of an impressing building 46 feet Gustavino Ceiling Kipu Inka Knots Writings of the old civilization of Peru Taíno: Native Heritage and Identity in the Caribbean Native american costumes National Museum of the American Indian—NY Links https://youtu.be/i4RoXocev_0