The small female figure probably comes from a natural sacred site. Such figurines were buried there as an offering to the gods. The spondylus mollusc is only found in warm waters. For the cultures along the Peruvian coast, this meant having to exchange this shell, which was very often used for jewellery or as a burial object, from Ecuador. The spondylus mollusc only appeared on the Peruvian coast when the climate phenomenon El Niño occurred, which pushes warm water from the Pacific Ocean to the coast, thereby making the cold Humboldt Current disappear. At the same time it rains on the coast. In this respect, the spondylus shell was regarded as a symbol of rain and fertility.