Abstract
The paper briefly traces the symbolic role of the metal caldrons from the Early Iron Age. This category of items can be considered as attributes of the elite and aristocracy. Experts identified the connection of the caldron (kazan) with the funeral rite in the Middle Ages, traced its role as a marker of high social rank people. This dependence is also traced on the example of population change as a whole. These include the Jetysu district (South-Eastern Kazakhstan), the Southern Urals in the era of the early nomads, and the interfluve of the Dnieper and Volga in the late Middle Ages. Burials of men with a cauldron and other attributes of power in the era of the early and medieval nomads, probably indicates the fulfillment of their economic and military duties. The example of the functional purpose of boilers states the succession of the nomadic culture in the use of the power attributes. The value of the metal boiler along with some elements of the object complex (hryvnia, etc.), laid down even in the period of nomad culture development as a symbol of representatives of high rank people, preserved for thousands of years.