The Mathematical Enigma of Guamn Pomas Yupana by Cinzia Florio - 9783031926617

The Mathematical Enigma of Guamn Pomas YupanaA Hundred Years' Riddle\nAuthor(s): Cinzia Florio\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: Springer International Publishing AG, Switzerland\nImprint: Springer International Publishing AG\nISBN-13: 9783031926617, 978-3031926617\nSynopsis\nAgainst a century of inclusive studies, this book presents a new interpretation of the Inca calculating board known as the yupana, based on a different set of assumptions. Instead of seeing Inca numbers as positional, like the modern Hindu-Arabic numerals used by Western researchers, this new approach looks at them as additive, similar in organization to the numbers of ancient civilizations like Egypt. By analyzing Guamn Poma's work and considering the nature of the materials used by the Inca for recording and calculating with numbers, this new work finds a mathematical message, a multiplication algorithm, in the historical drawing. Finding a multiplication in the ancient drawing leads to considering the deciphermen.