A choice Machalilla Female solid figurine. One of the most rarest pieces to surface completely intact. Supersedes in form, the modeled figurines of terminal Valdivian “Venus” types. Coffee bean eyes and salient nose. Light orange clay with burnished surface. A peculiarity among Machalilla figurines are rows of perforations along the edge of the head or along the edges of the ears - probably used to suspend hair, feathers or other material as a form of adornments. Measures 5.25”/13.33cm in height. La Ponga, Ecuador. 1100-1500 BC. Very scarce item.

Reference: Karl Dieter Gartelmann, Digging up prehistory - The Archaeology of Ecuador. Pg. 54