Khvarenah symbols of blacksmiths/foundrymen of the bronze age in the Southern Trans-Urals

The paper is devoted to search ingsemantics of Ф-shaped symbols on a casting mold valve made from soap-stone which is a chance find at the tilled Starokumlyakskoye settlement near the town of Plast in the Chelyabinsk region. The artifact dates to the final stage of the Bronze Age in the southern Trans-Urals. In the view of the authors, the symbol representing ram horns which is reproduced four times is to be perceived as a sign reflecting corporate ritual practice intended to ensure that the blacksmith was under the protection of the khvarenah.