As frequently happens in Pre-Columbian art, this fascinating woman reveals important facts about life and death in her ancient world. Created as a tomb offering, she depicts a mourner making another kind of offering altogether. Pots such as she bears on her shoulder, filled with food and drink, would have been part of the grave gifts placed in the same tomb. The sorrowful look on her face reveals her ultimate purpose: to express the eternal grief of the woman who placed her in the grave. Such feelings are universal, transcending all cultural boundaries. To look upon this powerful figure is to realize the human bond we share with the culture that shaped her so long ago.