The Vicus culture developed a characteristic ceramic style, of which this whistling bottle is a fine example. The figure represented here has characteristic facial features (large nose, coffee bean eyes, incised mouth) and its body extending back-wards, with the bridge handle running along the back. It displays decoration with white painting, which is also found on other specimens of this style.

Specialists have recognized a stylistic evolution within this culture's ceramic production, distinguishing between the Early, Medium and Late periods, particularly according to their decorative motifs. They have also registered the existence of four types of anthropomorphous figures which provide the configuration for many of the vessels, according to the shape of certain facial features. All this points to a developed society whose ceramic production was organized and carried out by different pottery workshops.

The vicus peoples lived in the coastal valleys of the extreme north of Peru, in the present-day region of Piura. During the later eras of their development, they came into contact with Gallinazo and Moche peoples, receiving influences from both, which became clear in their ceramic and metallurgy. 

Throughout the Andean past, there was constant interaction between the different coastal peoples, both among themselves and with their highland neighbours, playing a key role in the cultural dynamics which gave shape to the prehistory of this region.