The ceramic vessel set was discovered accidentally in October 2025 in the southwestern part of the village of Bălceana, Hâncești District, approximately 1.2 km from the Lăpușnița River. The archaeological materials were recovered by the National Archaeological Agency.
The ceramic assemblage consists of a large storage vessel (pithos) with a capacity of 20 litres (h = 39.2 cm; d = 35.0 cm), decorated with a raised band below the rim; a medium-sized bowl with a capacity of 2.5 litres (h = 16.9 cm; d = 23.2 cm); a medium-sized jug with a capacity of 0.6 litres (h = 12.0 cm; d = 13.4 cm); and the base of a jar-shaped vessel.
The coarse handmade pottery was produced using the coil-building technique, by stacking and shaping coils of clay prepared from a paste tempered with crushed fired clay (grog) and sand. The vessel surfaces are uneven and covered with a yellowish-red slip featuring black patches, while the core of the vessel walls is black in colour.
The three vessels preserved intact display well-defined biconical shapes, with their maximum diameter at the middle of the body and straight or slightly oblique rims with rounded edges. Pottery of this type is characteristic of the Early Medieval cultural area of the northern and northwestern Black Sea region, dating from the 5th to the 7th centuries. East of the Dniester River, on the territory of present-day Ukraine, analogous pottery is found in Penkovka-type settlements, while in the Carpathian-Dniester region it is characteristic of settlements belonging to the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca cultural group.
Within the Prut-Dniester region, coarse biconical pottery is generally represented by fragments and only relatively rarely by complete vessels, such as those discovered at Hansca, Dănceni, Recea, Seliște, Păhărniceni, and other sites. This type of pottery constituted an indispensable component of the local material culture during the 5th-7th centuries. In this context, the discovery at Bălceana of an almost intact set of coarse biconical vessels represents a relatively rare find of considerable scientific importance.
According to certain hypotheses, the tradition of coarse biconical pottery dating to the 5th-7th centuries originated in the North Pontic region. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that these biconical ceramic vessels were the result of contemporary ethnocultural interactions, developing simultaneously across the vast territory extending from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dnieper River and the Seversky Donets.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Cette contribution porte sur la dynamique des centuriations d’origine romaine de la plaine centrale de Venise, limitée par la lagune et les Alpes d’une part, les fleuves Brenta et Piave de l’autre. Il s’agit d’évaluer la nature des interactions entre les morphologies agraires héritées de l’arpentage antique et les sociétés historiques, médiévales et modernes, qui intègrent, en le transformant, l’héritage antique.
Liste des figures:
Fig. 1. Organisation théorique d’une centuriation de 20 actus de module (710 m) et disposition des coordonnées de deux centuries. Deux modes de division interne sont proposés. Fig. 2. a - Miniatures des manuscrits Arcerianus (en haut) et Palatinus (en bas). Elles représentent la ville de co- lonia Iulia édifiée dans une plaine délimitée par la mer et une chaîne montagneuse. Le territoire est divisé par une centuriation dont les deux axes majeurs se croisent au centre de la ville; b - Cippe gromatique de Grantorto (Cittadella). Il s’agit d’un parallélépipède de plus de 1,60 m de haut portant un decussis sur la tranche et le texte iuss(u) ter(minus) n(ovatus) / U(ltra) K(ardinem) VII; sur le flanc S(inistra) D(ecumanum) VIII. Il est daté du Ier s. ap. J.-C. et indique l’intersection du decumanus VIII à gauche du decumanus maximus et du kardo VII au-delà du kardo maximus. Fig. 3. Vue aérienne verticale du Graticolato romano à l’ouest de Mirano. Fig. 4. Carte géomorphologique et hydrographique de la plaine centrale de Venise. Légende: 1 - plaine alluviale ancienne du Brenta (tardiglaciaire); 2 - alluvions récentes (holocène); 3 - bourrelets alluviaux anciens et récents; 4 - dépressions d’inter-cône du Musone; 5 - plaine alluviale du Piave; 6 - limite septentrionale de la résurgence des eaux; 7 - courbe de niveau (eq. 5 m); 8 - hydrographie moderne et contemporaine; 9 - bourgs fortifiés (XIIe-XIIIe s.). Fig. 5. Centuriations et circulation des eaux, de Bassano à Mirano. Fig. 6. Morphologie de la centuriation entre Cittadella et Castelfranco Veneto. Les flèches externes indiquent le carroyage théorique de la centuriation. Fig. 7. Morphologie de deux centuries de la centuriation au nord-est de Padoue. Les trois limites intercisivi sont représentés en pointillés.
Robin Brigand, Andrei Asăndulesei, Ionuț Nicu Cristi
Autour de la station éponyme de Cucuteni: paysage et peuplement (Valea Oii, Iași, Roumanie)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Marius Alexianu, Olivier Weller, Robin Brigand, Roxana-Gabriela Curcă
Recherches ethnoarchéologiques sur les sources salées de la Moldavie précarpatique
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The ceramic vessel set was discovered accidentally in October 2025 in the southwestern part of the village of Bălceana, Hâncești District, approximately 1.2 km from the Lăpușnița River. The archaeological materials were recovered by the National Archaeological Agency...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.