The complex codes and concepts of a khipu were complemented by oral information. The specialists in the Inca Empire who produced and could read a khipu were known as– a profession that required extensive training in memorisation.
Khipu are sometimes described as three-dimensional documents. According to colonial accounts, khipukamayuq analysed a khipu both by visually and by touching it as a sort of Braille text.
In the dyed, spunned threads of the khipu one can also discern the dualism in Andean cosmology that permeated much of existence. For instance, both feminine and masculine aspects can be found in the khipu, based on the material they are made of. Cotton is feminine, associated with the earth and the lowlands, whereas wool is from the highlands and has masculine properties.