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#Exhibit of the Month

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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.

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Exhibitions

“The Smell of Warm Bread. Bread in the Iron Age”

July 22 – September 4, 2026

The exhibition "The Smell of Warm Bread. Bread in the Iron Age", hosted by the National Museum of History of Moldova between July 22 and September 4, 2026, offers an immersive journey into the daily life of ancient communities through the universal symbol of bread. Previously traveled to several museums across Romania and the Republic of Moldova, the project now arrives in Chișinău in an enriched form, integrating original artifacts from the collections of the NMHM and the Museum of History and Ethnography in Trușeni.

The exhibition originates from the concept "The Smell of Warm Bread. Bread in the Dacian Kingdom", first launched nationally in September 2024 at the Sălaj County Museum of History and Art in Zalău and realized in partnership with the Museum of Dacian and Roman Civilization in Deva and the West University of Timișoara. The project's aim is to bring archaeological heritage closer to the community through a theme that is both accessible and emotionally resonant.

Visitors will be able to admire agricultural tools used for cultivating and harvesting cereals, ceramic vessels for storing grain and flour, fragments of ovens and utensils associated with the baking process, as well as original pieces from the NMHM and Trușeni collections. These objects are not mere relics, but testimonies of fundamental human gestures-material stories about how ancient communities organized their lives and about their relationship with the environment.

The exhibition title - "The Smell of Warm Bread" - introduces a sensory and affective dimension. It evokes olfactory and emotional experiences, inviting visitors to imaginatively reconstruct the domestic universe of the Iron Age. This approach transforms archaeological heritage into a close and intelligible experience, accessible to children, young people, and adults alike.

The exhibition's impact is multifaceted. For the general public, it offers a different perspective on history, emphasizing everyday life and simple yet essential gestures. For the local community, the integration of the NMHM and Trușeni heritage strengthens the bond between the museum and the residents of Chișinău. For the broader museum network, the project confirms the NMHM's role as a cultural mediator, capable of integrating local heritage into an international exhibition circuit.

In 2025, the exhibition traveled to the Banat Village Museum in Timișoara, the Magna Curia Palace in Deva, the University Center of Babeș-Bolyai University in Reșița, and the Museum of History and Archaeology in Sighetu Marmației. In 2026, the tour continued at the Satu Mare County Museum, the State University of Moldova in Chișinău, the Buzău County Museum, and the Prahova County Museum of History and Archaeology in Ploiești.

Thus, "The Smell of Warm Bread. Bread in the Iron Age" is not merely an exhibition of archaeological objects, but a dialogue between past and present, between heritage and community, between research and education. By evoking a simple and universal gesture-the kneading and baking of bread-the exhibition succeeds in bringing visitors closer to the lives of Iron Age people, transforming heritage into a living, intelligible, and emotional experience.


 




Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
  

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#Exhibit of the Month

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...

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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.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



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.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

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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.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC