Figurine

This carved turquoise figurine of a man wearing a hat and tunic was likely a ritual offering used during a ceremony. Groupings of similar figurines have been excavated by archaeologists at the Wari provincial site of Pikillacta, near Cusco, as ceremonial offerings, perhaps related to fertility. Turquoise is not common in the Andes, and its scarcity may explain its preciousness and why it was used for these small devotional figurines.