Beaker with Figure Displaying a Shell A.D. 900-1100 Lambayeque (Sicán) This gold drinking vessel in the shape of a figure displaying a shell comes from the Lambayeque culture of Perus north coast and was created for use in ceremonial feasts before it was eventually deposited in the tomb of a high-status individual. This type of vessel shape originated in the south-central Andes, where tall ceramic beakers with flaring rims were popular in the earlier Tiwanaku and Wari cultures. A few examples of beakers made of precious metals and sculpted in the shape of a head are known from these southern cultures, but they do not appear to have been made in large quantities. After the ninth century A.D., however, vessels made of precious metals were made in greater numbers farther north, in the Lambayeque region, near the modern city of Chiclayo. Prior to this time, ritual vessels on the north coast were made in the shape of goblets, and probably exclusively of fired clay. By the beginning of the