#Exhibit of the Month

The bronze hoard was discovered on the territory of Mîndrești village, Telenești district, in 1968. It was identified accidentally by a group of students from the village school, and the materials later came to the attention of specialists at the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences. According to documentary records, the hoard was composed of ten pieces: four socketed axes (celts), a dagger fragment, a sword fragment, a sickle, a winged axe, an adze-axe, and a chain consisting of four links.
Currently, of the mentioned assemblage, six objects are preserved in the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova: two socketed axes (celts), the winged axe, the adze-axe, the dagger fragment, and the chain made of four links.- Socketed axe (celt) with one loop. Dimensions: Length - 10.2 cm; Weight - 186 g.
- Socketed axe (celt) with one frontal loop. Dimensions: Length - 8.4 cm; Width: 33-46 mm; Weight - 124 g.
- Winged axe. Dimensions: Length - 14.0 cm; Width - 2.5-3.4 cm; Weight - 285 g.
- Adze-axe. Dimensions: Length - 14.8 cm; Width - 2.3-5.0 cm; Weight - 286 g.
- Dagger fragment. Dimensions: Length - 16.5 cm; Blade length - 9.8 cm; Blade width - 2.8 cm; Weight - 81 g.
- Chain formed of four links. Dimensions: Length - 17.1 cm; Link diameter - 3.8; Weight - 32 g.The bronze hoard of Mîndrești is important due to the association of objects that find analogies in the regional repertoire with pieces that show clear analogies in Central Europe and the Carpathian Basin. The assemblage reflects a zone of contact and interaction where metallic forms of different origins and traditions circulated and were integrated into the repertoire of local communities.
Chronologically, the bronze hoard of Mîndrești is attributed to the Early Hallstatt period - HaA1, being dated to 1200-1100 BC.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

The compartment of Ancient and Early Medieval History

(Permanent Exhibition “History and Civilization”)

Roman period is represented by various items, including a series of Roman bronze and clay vessels found in a Sarmatian tomb near the village of Olanesti, among which there is a rarity - a clay pot in the shape of a ram.

The compartment of Ancient and Early Medieval History

Multiple gray wares, adornments made of semiprecious stones, bone, and shells, clasps of precious metals belong to the 1st - 3rd centuries AD.

As a result of invasions occurred during the Migration Period and disappearance of the Santana de Mures - Chernyakhov culture (the 3rd - 4th centuries AD) the present-day territory of the Republic of Moldova was terribly devastated. This led to degradation of all spheres of economic and social life of the natives. In the 6th century Slavic tribes moving to the Balkans penetrated the territories inhabited by tenuous Romanic population. Under their influence there occurred changes in the material culture of the Romance.

The settlements are small. Population dwelled in huts which were half-depth in the ground and heated by stone ovens. The main concerns were agriculture and animal husbandry. A certain place in everyday life there had crafts. In contrast to the previous period, potteries were made by hand without using a potter's wheel. Most of the tools are made of bone, horn, and stone. Metal objects are very rare, but not missing.

Archaeological materials from the 6th - 7th centuries AD discovered during investigations of many settlements and necropolises in the Prut-Dniester area reflect the life and activities of the Eastern Romance and aliens in a period marked by major social, economic, and cultural transformations.

Early medieval era is represented by material culture of the first pre-state formations (the 9th - 12th centuries) and early states (the 13th - 14th centuries): vessels, tools, adornments and clothing items, pectoral crosses.

These findings testify to the existence of certain exchange relationships of the Eastern Romance with the neighboring communities, especially the Byzantine Empire. Among these items there are amphorae and vessels made on the potter's wheel, bronze adornments, coins, etc.

#Exhibit of the Month

The Bronze Hoard of Mîndrești

The compartment of Ancient and Early Medieval History

(Permanent Exhibition “History and Civilization”)

#Exhibit of the Month