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.
Memorial house "Alexei Şciusev" represents a heritage object located in the historic part of Chișinău. Here, on October 8, 1873, was born and raised the future to become architect, art historian and theorist, academician Alexei Şciusev.
The architect's parents - Victor and Maria Şciusev - built the property in the 50ies of the 19th century, offering their five children a happy family home and distinguished education. Alexei Şciusev lived in this house until 1897. The house remained in the family until 1928, when it was inherited by Sergei Şciusev, the elder brother of the architect.
On 18 September 1947 in this building was inaugurated the first museum of architecture from the republic, which was later reorganized into the Museum house "Alexei Şciusev." The exhibition showing the life and work of the famous architect was opened on October 15, 1973 and was concentrated in two rooms of the building.
The memorial house becomes from 1990 (by Order of the Ministry of Culture no. 411 of December 28, 1989) a branch of the National Museum of History of Moldova.
From November 2013 to May 2014 the memorial house "Alexei Şciusev" has been totally renovated inside and outside.
The permanent exhibition was conceptually reorganized in 2014; its chronologic and thematic framework was expanded. The memorial exhibition is divided into four sections: "Şciusev family salon", "Living room", "Children's Room" and "Cabinet of architect Alexei Şciusev". The exhibition preserves the vintage ambience, reconstructs the family atmosphere in which Alexei Şciusev, this outstanding personality of national and universal culture, grew up and worked.
Opening Hours
Tuesday - Friday, Sunday 9am – 4pm. Admission to the Museum is stopped 20 minutes before closing.
Closed: On Mondays and Saturdays, 1, 7, and 8 January, 8 March, first and second day of Easter, Memorial Easter, 1 and 9 May, 27 and 31 August, 25 December.
Admission Fees
Adults - 50 MDL Pensioners, Students - 20 MDL School students - 10 MDL
Free admission:
Preschool children (up to the age of 7), children from residential institutions, children with disabilities (up to the age of 18) and their companion, military personnel, official delegations and delegations of a cultural nature (within the limits of the museum's operating hours), employees of the national museum network, the Ministry of Culture and national institutions in the field of cultural heritage, holders of ICOM and ICOMOS cards, war veterans (pursuant to Law no. 317/2024), for the participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the damage at the Chernobyl C.A.E.
Free admission for all visitors: the last Thursday of every 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...
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.
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.
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.