Final answer:
The term referring to a knotted-string recording device is Quipu. It was used by the Inca civilization for various functions, including accounting, census record, and possibly to represent stories and histories. The system involved colored strings with varying types of knots, allowing it to encode a wide range of data.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term which refers to a knotted-string recording device used for a range of functions, including accounting, census record, and possibly representing stories and histories is C) Quipu. Originating with the Inca civilization, a Quipu was a versatile instrument made of numerous colored strings with various types of knots. This allowed for a multitude of combinations, encoding quantitative data like tax and census information, as well as potentially encoding qualitative ideas or poems.
Although many Quipus were destroyed and the knowledge deciphering them largely lost, remaining samples affirm their use in the Inca civilization as a sophisticated system of record keeping and communication despite the absence of a conventional writing system.
Notably, these were quite different from other ancient record-keeping systems such as Persian clay tablets or cuneiform script developed by Sumerians, which were inscribed and became permanent upon baking, while the Quipu retained flexibility with the knots being tied, untied, and retied.
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