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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.

Virtual Tour


Exhibitions

„Václav Havel’s portrait”

March 2nd - April 10th, 2016

The exhibition was organised by the Czech Centre in Bucharest (curator: František Zachoval) in partnership with the National Museum of History of Moldova and the Czech Embassy in Moldova.

The exhibition is a tribute to the 80 years anniversary of the birth of Václav Havel, whom he has never lived. Václav Havel is a writer, philosopher, Czech dissident and politician. He was one of the first spokesmen of Charter 77, leading personality of the political changes in November 1989, the last president of Czechoslovakia and the first president of the Czech Republic. Literary genius, irreproachable moral qualities and political victories made him one of the most respected personalities of the late twentieth century.

The exhibition reflects the personality of Václav Havel in Czech artists' vision. Undoubtedly, Havel played one of the most important roles in the revolutionary months of 1989, when he brilliantly formulated the fundamental purpose of transformation period that was to follow, such as rebuilding of a pluralist political system or reconstruction of market economy. Therefore, the exhibition is the very paradigm of Havel's concept of the world, being one of the most important promoters of pluralism of opinions. The same pluralism was set behind the project exhibition, showing the personality of Václav Havel in artworks made between 1990 and 2015 by known Czech artists, such as: Milan Knížák, Jiří Kovanda, Jiří David, Kurt Gebauer, Milan Mikuláštík, Adam Kovalčík, Bořek Šípek, Martin Zet and artistic group Guma Guar.

The artworks displayed in the exhibition are: „Česká krajina" (Czech landscape - 1990) by Milan Knížák; „Skryté podoby" (Hidden portraits - Václav Havel, 1991-1995), artwork part of a large international project by Jiří David; „Havla zřejmě čeká těžší práce doma" (Obviously, Havel awaits a harder job at home - 1998) by Jiří Kovanda; commemorative medal „Macroscopium rationem popularem tuens stand" (2014) by Bořek Šípek; installation „Srdce" (Heart - 1997-2007) by Kurt Gebauer; billboard „Podpis krvavého humanisty" (Signature of bloody humanist) by Guma Guar; „Power Play" (1998) by Milan Mikuláštík; „Portrait of Václav Havel" (2013) by Adam Kovalčík; „Easy Marchers" (video, 26 min., 39 sec.) by Martin Zet. The works capture the personality of Václav Havel through eyes of criticism and admiration of contemporary Czech visual artists.

The event was supported by Staropramen. Media partners: Kiss FM.




 




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