#Exhibit of the Month

This clay vessel was discovered in 1982 by archaeologist V. Sorochin during excavations of a burial mound (no. 1) located in the village of Speia, Dubăsari District. It originates from grave no. 5 and is dated to the 4th millennium BC, belonging to the Usatovo culture.
The vessel was found in a child's grave. The burial pit had an oval shape, and the deceased was laid in a crouched position (similar to the fetal posture), on the left side. A total of five vessels were uncovered in this grave: three near the back, one at the feet, and one in the pelvic area.
The cultural attribution of this funerary complex was determined based on the burial rite and grave goods. This culture is characterized by the specific construction of the burial pit, as well as the positioning and orientation of the deceased toward the east and northeast.

The vessel is shaped from clay mixed with finely crushed shell. Its walls curve gradually toward the top, with the widest diameter at the shoulder area. It has a short neck, a slightly flared rim, and a flat base. The surface is carefully polished, in some areas to a lustrous finish. The interior is reddish-brown, while the exterior is yellowish-brown with gray spots. The rim features groups of perforations, three of which are preserved in their original state. The diameter of the holes is 0.35 cm. The space between the groups of perforations is decorated with cord impressions. The transition from the neck to the shoulder is adorned with three horizontal lines made with cord, from which, in five places, three vertical lines descend, each 5 cm long, executed using the same technique. At the time of discovery, these lines were filled with a white paste. The space between the groups of lines is decorated at the top with short vertical lines (0.5 cm long), and in the center with a meander ornament made of two parallel lines impressed with cord. The base of the vessel retains the imprint of a textile.
Vessel dimensions: Height: 22 cm; Rim diameter: 15.7 cm; Maximum diameter: 22 cm; Base diameter: 10 cm.

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#Exhibit of the Month

January 2023

Mirror from Nikolskoe

In the culture of many peoples from ancient times (and to the present day), mirrors have been given a special role in ritual practice, especially funerary ones. For many communities, mirrors, like metal objects in general, served to protect against evil spirits. Mirrors had a dual purpose - a utilitarian one, as a toilet item, and ritual, as an attribute of a magical rite. The latter is explained by the fact that in the ideas of many peoples the soul of a person is connected to his reflection in a mirror or water. Being external to man, the "soul-reflection" is subject to various dangers.

Obviously, belief in the magical possibilities of mirrors is one of the reasons why the owners kept them closed in wooden, cloth, felt or leather cases and pouches. An expensive mirror was placed in the grave along with the deceased for fear that the soul of a living person reflected in it could be carried away by the spirit of the person passed away. On the other hand, to this day, many nations have a tradition of hanging all the mirrors if there is a dead person in the house, so as not to multiply death.

Metal mirrors are quite rare at the dawn of Scythian history, but over time, they were widely distributed in the Classical time or "Herodotus' Scythia" of the 5th-4th centuries BC. Then the mirror became one of the most important toilet items in Scythian burials. In the west of the Pontic steppes, at least 40 mirrors are known, made in Scythian or Greek workshops, 12 of them are stored in the collection of the National Museum of the History of Moldova.

One of the metal mirrors of Greek work was found on the left bank of the Dniester, near the Nikolskoe village, in the burial mound 14. It was found in a burial near a skull, and in addition to a mirror, 114 arrowheads and six golden fish-shaped plaques. The mirror was cast in bronze along with the handle. The mirror diameter is 16.5 cm, handle length with a round extension is 11.5 cm.

Although burial 1 of kurgan 14 was identified as male, 18-20 years old, mirrors are a marker of exclusively female burials. Such bronze mirrors with side handles appear in the middle of the 5th century BC but were most massively distributed during the last quarter of the 5th - the first half of the 4th century BC.

#Exhibit of the Month

Clay Vessel discovered in Speia Village, Dubăsari District

January 2023

Mirror from Nikolskoe

#Exhibit of the Month