In Late Intermediate period cultures throughout the Andes, motifs held multiple meanings. Artisans who depicted birds, felines, snakes, and lizards in the work could be reflecting both the natural environment of the Andes, portraying the multiple levels of existence (sky, earth and afterworld), and/or drawing a direct connection to specific gods and ancestors.¹ The Chancay valley contains a coastal area 25 km long, with lagoons, swamps, coastal hills, and marine salt flats rich in birds, fish and minerals.² To the Late Intermediate period Chancay, the water was a hallowed place. It provided the coastal dwellers with resources and it was also a dwelling place for ancestors and the departed. As such, representations of water --  such as the fish detailed in this gauze -- are common in Chancay textiles. As historian and former Director of the Municipal Museum of Chancay Vicente Cortéz argues, the meaning and value of these textiles to Chancay society cannot be separated from the context in which they were found. Many Late Intermediate period Chancay textiles are from burial sites in the valley. There was a close link between art-making, religious practice, and a person’s safe passing to the afterlife.³'⁴