#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

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Exhibitions

"Archeological Findings from Germany"

12 June-15 July 2012

On June 21, 2012, at the Art Gallery of Bălți it was opened the photo exhibition "Archeological Findings from Germany". The opening ceremony was attended by the Cultural Attaché of the German Embassy in Moldova K.F. Buschendorf, Deputy Mayor of Bălți Municipality A. Usatîi, and General Director of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova Eugen Sava.

The exhibition was conceived by Professor Svend Hansen, director of the Eurasian Abteilung of the German Archaeological Institute (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut - Berlin) and is an invitation to discover the archaeological universe of the western Central Europe. So far the exhibition has been displayed in several cities of Romania - Iași, Galați, Cluj, Sibiu, Alba Iulia, - and now has arrived in the Republic of Moldova, to the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova and the Art Gallery of Balti.

The exhibition illustrates 45 objects, which are of special value for the German archeology. The oldest object in the exhibition is a Stone Age hand ax, and the newest ones belong to the Early Middle Ages. The images in this exhibition represent different styles of photographic presentation of discoveries. They show that archaeological findings are not just a subject of scientific classifications, but that they can be contemplated from different perspectives. Photographic presentation of findings allows focusing on the object's singularity. Separation of objects from each other by a frame and passé-partout avoids conducting any links between them. Each finding represents a particular and specific historical situation, and should be presented as such. That is why, in this exhibition there was not made an attempt to tell an illusory coherent history, which involved, for example, a gradual technical development or general progress of civilization. On the contrary, archaeological finds are just a chain of discontinuities. Each object represents particular historical circumstances to be investigated.

The exhibition will be opened at the Art Gallery of Bălți from June 21 to July 15, 2012.

Organizers and partners:
National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova - Chișinău
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut - Berlin
Deutsches Kultur-Zentrum - Iași
Institut of Archaeology - Iași
Akzente Cultural Centre - Chișinău
National Association of Young Historians of Moldova - Chișinău

#Exhibit of the Month

Exhibit of the Month Amber beads from a bronze hoard discovered near the town of Nisporeni

"Archeological Findings from Germany"

12 June-15 July 2012

#Exhibit of the Month