#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.).

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

"The Archaeological Landscape of Old Orhei"

February 20 – March 20, 2025

The Archaeological Landscape of Old Orhei is an ensemble of exceptional archaeological sites, located in a fortified natural space with unique features on a global scale. As a result of millennia of collaboration between human genius and the natural environment, the Archaeological Landscape of Old Orhei represents an extraordinary repository of heritage values, a place of rare beauty and great attractiveness that deeply impresses any visitor.

The exhibition aims to present these remarkable heritage values through a collection of photographic panels, offering visitors a comprehensive insight into the rich history and cultural significance of Old Orhei.

The landscape is in the central-eastern part of the Republic of Moldova and extends along the Răut River gorge, 50 km from Chișinău. It is situated in a strategically important location, at the confluence of ancient civilizations: barbarian and Greek, sedentary and nomadic, oriental and western, Christian and Muslim.

The landscape includes a natural amphitheatre of rare beauty, formed by the confined meander of the Răut River, with high banks along its winding course, providing remarkable defence conditions, in fact being a splendid natural fortress.

Old Orhei has multiple elements that give it remarkable universal value, such as: the unique configuration of the landscape; the unity and diversity of the natural framework; the remarkable richness of vital natural resources for the inhabitants; the very important geostrategic position of the place; the strong natural fortification of the landscape; the positioning of the site at the border between spaces with very different cultural models; the remarkable sacredness of the place; the ingenious anthropic adaptation of the space; the high political-economic and military status of the space in various eras, and the extremely high concentration of anthropic traces in this area.

This special place has strongly attracted human communities since ancient times. Within the Landscape of Old Orhei, there is a very high concentration of archaeological sites, perfectly adapted to the relief forms here.

The oldest traces of habitation represent two Upper Palaeolithic sites (ca. 30,000 - 20,000 BC). There is also a long-term settlement from the Copper Age (ca. 5,000 - 3,500 BC). Sparse traces from the late Bronze Age (ca. 1400 - 1100 BC) are also encountered. In the same space, vestiges from the early Iron Age (ca. 1000 - 100 BC) are documented.

On the same promontory, sporadic traces from the late antique period (3rd-4th centuries) are found. Two early medieval settlements (5th - 13th centuries) follow. In the 12th - 13th centuries, in the upper part of the promontory, there was a fortified rural settlement, conquered and destroyed by the Mongols around 1241.

In the first half of the 14th century, an oriental-type city - Şehr al Cedid / Yangı Şeher (New City) - was founded on this site, which existed until 1369 when the Mongols withdrew from the region under pressure from Lithuanian and Moldovan armies.

On the ruins of this city, after 1369, one of the most important medieval Moldovan cities - Orhei - was founded, which existed until the mid-16th century.
The exhibition " The Archaeological Landscape of Old Orhei " can be visited from February 20 - March 20, 2025, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, Chișinău, 31 August 1989 Street, No. 121 A.