TERRACOTTA, CLAY AND STONE "FINIALS" FROM ALTYN-DEPE
The excavations of Altyn-depe and some other Eneolithic and Bronze Age sites in Central Asia and Middle East have yielded terracotta and stone «finials» with an under drilled hole in the central part (fig. 1–2). They are about 3 cm in diameter, while their height varies from 1,5 to 2,5 cm. The geographical and chronological distribution of these objects (fig. 3) allows for four generalizations.

First, this category of artifacts, which existed from the beginning of the Vth millennium BC to the first quarter of the IInd millennium BC, cannot serve as a chronological benchmark for dating any archaeological assemblage.

Second, the «finials» appeared in the south of Central Asia during the Anau 1A period. They were brought to the piedmont zone of Kopetdagh by the incomers from Northeastern Iran.

Third, in Southern Afganistan (Mundigak) these objects appeared much later, about the middle of the IVth millennium BC. Here the tradition of their manufacture emerged as a result of the interaction of the indigenous population with the tribes of Northeastern Iran and Southern Turkmenistan. In Pakistan the finds of these objects are almost absent. Single «finials» from the Harappan sites of Shortugai, Chandu-Daro, and Mohenjo-Daro are probably indicative of some contacts between the Harappan people and the inhabitants of Southern and Northern Afganistan in the late IIIrd–early IInd millennia BC.

Fourth, the «finials» are found also in the areas which had close contacts with the farmers of Southern Turkmenistan, like the Zeravshan valley (Sarazm settlement, Zamanbaba culture sites). At the same time, they are nearly unknown in the southwestern Turkmenia (Parkhai II), which was a part of another cultural province.
In L. B. Kircho's opinion, the «finials» were spinning or weaving tools. This interpretation is supported by the fact that at Altyn-depe «finials» were placed into women's and girls' graves (fig. 4). The absence of these artifacts in men's burials is indicative of their belonging to the realm of women's subcultutre. Being a part of weaving equipment, the «finials» symbolized the gender of the deceased person independently of her age.