#Exhibit of the Month

The Roman bronze situla comes from a collection of archaeological artifacts confiscated at customs and transferred to the holdings of the National Museum of History of Moldova in 2009. Its place of discovery remains unknown.

A situla (Latin for "bucket") is a metal vessel-usually made of bronze-shaped like a pail and equipped with two movable handles at the top, traditionally used for mixing wine with water. The handles are attached to the vessel via two decorated ears that are welded to the rim.

The body of the situla is truncated-conical in shape and features two decorative bands with small circular patterns formed by hammering, located just below the rim.

Its base is double-layered: the inner bottom is hemispherical and hammered, while the outer bottom is flat and lathe-made. The outer base is welded to the inner bottom, serving as the vessel's foot-support.

This object was crafted using a combination of casting, hammering, and partial lathe-finishing. Dimensions: Maximum height - 31.7 cm; Maximum diameter - 22.8 cm; Base diameter - 13.5 cm

Situlae of this type originated in the Roman Empire and were later adopted by various ancient peoples, including those from the northwestern Pontic region.

Virtual Tour

Events Archive

National Session of Reports “Archaeological research in the Republic of Moldova. Campaign of 2018”

18 April 2019

On April 18, 2019, on the occasion of the International Day of Monuments and Sites, the National Museum of History of Moldova, in partnership with the National Archaeological Agency, the National Archaeological Commission and under the auspices of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research organized the 3rd edition of the National Session of archaeological reports.

During this meeting were presented the results of archaeological research in the campaigns conducted in 2018. A team of 48 archaeologists discussed 31 excavation reports. Scholars from prestigious archaeological institutions in the Republic of Moldova (State University of Moldova, "Ion Creangă" State Pedagogical University, Institute of Cultural Heritage of the ASM, National Museum of History of Moldova, National Archeological Agency), Romania (ARHEOINVEST Platform by A. I. Cuza University, Iași, Botosani County Museum, Olga Necrasov, Research Center, Iași), Germany (Deutsches Archaologisches Institut (DAI) Berlin, DAI Frakfurt, Universität Regensburg), Poland (Uniwersytet Rzeszowski) in multidisciplinary research teams, provided the exceptional academic environment with information about the life and activity of the communities that populated the area between Prut and Nistru Rivers from the Paleolithic to the late medieval period.

The program and abstracts of communications have been published and can be found here.