Arguably the finest example of Inka silversmithing in existence, this sculpture was reportedly found near a rock sacred to the Inka, on the island of Titicaca, where it had been placed with other objects as an offering to the gods. The striated crimped silver sheet suggests the hanging fleece of the long-haired llama. Llamas are highland animals associated with the mountains, considered sacred in Peru because they were the abode of the gods and revered ancestors and the wellspring of the rains.