The small unclothed figure of a man is an offering, a votive figure, to the Inca gods. It shows a person with very large earlobes. The Inca nobles wore large ear plugs and when they removed them, the long earlobes became visible. This is why the Spanish called the Inca nobles "orejones", long ears. Such figurines were placed as offerings on sacrificial altars or in nature at sacred places. In the original these figurines wore clothes. The hands of the man show the prayer posture, which for the Incas is described as "hands outstretched, palms up".