CIRCA LATE 3RD-EARLY 2ND MILLENNIUM B.C.

The precise use of these objects is unknown, but it is generally assumed that they served a ritual function. Cf. M.-H. Pottier, Matériel Funéraire de la Bactriane Méridionale de l'Age du Bronze, Paris, 1984, p. 16, pl. V, fig. 7, no. 31, for a similar shaped ritual object with cylindrical shaft tapering then flaring towards the flat ends.