Semicircular tub set vertically, like a croquet hoop, on top of a closed vessel - common in many Peruvian cultures (Moche, Chimu, Chavín, Cupisnique, Nazca) and other parts of the New World. The lower ends open into the body of the pot, and from the apex of the curve rises a single vertical spout. From the side, it looked like a stirrup. It had precursors in the Initial Period. In Chavín pottery; for example, the earliest stirrup spouts were relatively small, very thick and heavy, and the spout had a thick flange. As time went on, the stirrups became lighter and the spouts longer; the flange was reduced and finally disappeared. The necks of the flasks underwent similar changes. The Cupisnique stirrup-spouted vessels, some of which were modeled in the form of human beings, animals, or fruits, were the beginning of a north-coast tradition of naturalistic modeling.