#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.

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

#Exhibit of the Month

December 2021

Engraving-document “The Battle of the Prut between the Turks and the Muscovites / The Battle of Stănilești”

A German keen on Romanian history, Robert Denndorf, donated to the museum several cultural goods of special historical and artistic significance. Among them there is the engraving “The Battle of the Prut between the Turks and the Muscovites / The Battle of Stănilești”. The work – with the dimensions: L – 420 mm, 380 mm; W – 350 mm, 300 mm – was executed by the German engraver and publisher of Swiss origin Matthӓus Merian, commissioned by the German historian Iohan Abelin known as the author under the name of Iohan Ludwig Gottfreid. It represents a general overview of the deployment of Turkish and Russian troops on the banks of the Prut, near Stănilești, before the beginning of the Battle of Stănilești (Vaslui County). In the center is the Prut River, in the upper part of the river being placed the Ottoman army and in the lower part – that of Russia, supported by the troops of Dimitrie Cantemir (Principality of Moldavia). By means of various symbols on the engraving certain actions and things are indicated and numbered, without decipherments and explanations. At the bottom of the engraving, in the center, in a frame, there is the title of the work in German: “Action bey der Prutt zwijehen denen Turcken und Mofcowiten”. The engraving was first published in 1715 in the historical journal “Theatrum Europaeum” founded by Mattthӓus Merian and issued in German between 1633 and 1738. Later, it was reproduced in 1673 in the book in Italian “Colonna Traiana – Eretta Dal Senato, E. Popolo Romano All, imperatore Traiano Augusto Nel Suo Foro in Roma” [“Trajan's Column, erected by the Senate and the Roman people to Emperor Trajan in his forum in Rome”]. The volume also included an exposition in Latin by Alfonso Ciaccone. As a result of the Battle of Stănilești, the Phanariotes regime was established in Moldavia in 1711, and in Wallachia in 1716. Dimitrie Cantemir settled in Russia.

The engraving-document “The Battle of the Prut between the Turks and the Muscovites / The Battle of Stănilești” is one of the first images in the medieval history of Romania, depicting the historical event of the early 18^th century – the Battle of Stănilești, which had important consequences for Moldavia and Wallachia. There are no images on this topic by Romanian authors of the 18^th century. The only depictions known to date are by Western artists.

The engraving has a remarkable artistic and historical value and is classified as a piece of movable cultural heritage in the Treasure category.