#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

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#Exhibit of the Month

February 2021

Bronze kyathos

Kyathos (Ancient Greek: κύαθος - ladle, cup) is an ancient Greek vessel (ladle), used to pour wine from various larger vessels (kraters, hydriai, pelicai, and so on) into drinking cups. During the existence of these vessels, they were made of different materials: from silver and bronze to burnt clay, the latter ones being often painted with red and black figures, and sometimes covered only with black slip.

In the myths about Hercules, a young cupbearer named Kyathos is mentioned, who during a feast, scooping up wine from a vessel with a ceramic ladle to pour it into Hercules' bowl, accidentally broke the high handle of the vessel (which often happens) and spilled wine on the legendary hero. Hercules, not calculating his strength, gave the inattentive young man a flick on the forehead. Although it was a simple flick, it was fatal to the young cupbearer. In memory of this sad event in the homeland of Kyathos, in Aetolia, a grove was planted, called the Grove of the Cupbearer, where a sculpture was placed depicting Kyathos serving the cup to Hercules. Also, in memory of the cupbearer, the ladle vessels were named after him.

Kyathoi made of silver or bronze, most often with a very small bowl diameter (4 to 6 cm), were used to extract wine from amphorae (their necks ranged from 8 to 10-12 cm in diameter). The metal ladles were usually equipped with a long thin looping handles ending in a stylized swan's head.

These vessels were common in various cultures of the Greek period of the 6th-4th centuries BC.

The bronze Kyathos kept at the National Museum of History of Moldova, like most metal objects of this type, has a loop-shaped handle ending in a swan's head and the following characteristics: weight - 116.40 g; maximum length - 31.5 cm; handle width 0.9 -2 cm; diameter of the bowl at the opening - 4.4x5 cm; bowl bottom diameter - 4 cm; bowl height - 2.7 cm.

#Exhibit of the Month

Exhibit of the Month Amber beads from a bronze hoard discovered near the town of Nisporeni

February 2021

Bronze kyathos

#Exhibit of the Month