This is an image of one of the many Incan cities--Machu Picchu.  Imagine how difficult it would be to communicate with the people in your empire if the places you ruled were remote, mountain-top cities.  Remember that the Incas did not have a written language, and of course they did not have telephones, e-mail, or CNN!

This empire had clever and efficient ways of communicating with its scattered people.  Runners who memorized verbal messages were used by the Incas to communicate.  They were organized to take over for each other at intervals, like relay runners.  While all villages that the Incas conquered were expected to speak Quechua, sometimes a visually-communicated message was most effective.  Textiles helped keep the Incans informed and unified.

At the right is an intricate topkapu.  It is a hand-woven tunic filled with symbols.  Inca scholar Vicente Goyzueta believes that people in the Inca empire would have been able to easily interpret the symbols on such garments.  The rank of the individual wearing the topkapu was one of the many ideas Incas could read from tunics like this one.  Because the Incas did not have an alphabet, ideas expressed through pictures were an important means of communication.

One of the most efficient and creative communication tools were colorful, knotted strings and tassels--quipu.  The runner-messengers, chaski, brought bundles of quipu from city to city.  The quipu were color-coded and represented objects in powers of ten.  These ingenious knotted strings allowed the Incas to exchange information about population, stored goods, and work completed.