At the end of the site's occupation stood a large tear-shaped mound (also known as a tell) consisting of layer upon layer of occupation that had built up over time. This tell was surrounded by 69 hillocks, and created by its people through the building and rebuilding of their houses. Throughout the site's occupations, pottery fragments are abundant. Some of the more interesting clay artifacts begin in Phase II with terra-cotta statuettes and representations of humans and animals on pottery. These statuettes are important to the understanding of Phase II because along with this art, the first evidence for large-scale rice cultivation and population rise. All of these attributes are commonly associated with complex, state-level societies. It is believed that these artifacts posed ritual function as opposed to a domestic function. Some of these clay figurines are similar to those made by modern Fulani pastoralists for children, which might be evidence for the importance of domesticated cows at the site. One human statuette in particular has been the cause of much debate. It was found on a house floor around small bowls full of suspected offerings. Two others have been found in similar context 11 kilometers away from the site of Djenné-Djenno and it is hypothesized that they are the representations of a household spirit, as ancestral cults are known to have flourished in the area as late as the 20th century.