Fyodorov V.K.

Key words: early nomads, bone spoons, quivers, arrows, funeral rite, sacrificial libations.
The article is devoted to the bone spoons from early nomad burials that have been found in quivers or in other connection with arrows. The author lists 72 assemblages which come from an area encompassed by the Lower Don and the Kuban in the west and Ustyurt and Turgai in the east. Most of the investigated burials with spoons in the quivers are in the South Urals and date to the 5th – 3d cc. BC, whereas the earliest date to the 6th c. BC and are located in the Lower Don region. Analysis of the different objects from quiver assemblages has revealed that the spoons were the only non-utilitarian objects, in contrast with most of the finds which were instruments for minor repairs (small touchstones, knives and awls). The author advances the hypothesis that the spoons were used for sacrificial libations in funeral rites.