#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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Events Archive

Opening of the exhibition „Memory of deportations”

July 3, 2024

On July 3, 2024, the National Museum of History of Moldova organized the opening of the "Memory of Deportations" exhibition, dedicated to the commemoration of 75 years since the second wave of mass deportations in the Moldavian SSR.

The exhibition approach reveals aspects of the history and memory of the victims of Operation "South" from the night of July 5-6, 1949, bringing to the attention of the visiting public documentary materials, testimonies, personal objects, works of art, thematic video materials. The exposed vestiges elucidate the context in which the organization of the second wave of deportations took place, the transportation and displacement of Bessarabians in special settlements in the eastern regions of the USSR, as well as examples of recent practices honoring the memory of the victims of the totalitarian-communist regime during the SSR period Moldavian.

Today, more than three decades after the signing of the Declaration of Independence (1991), the complex and systematic valorization of the memory of the victims of the totalitarian past in the Republic of Moldova remains a desire of decommunization and democratization. The local communities of memory in the villages and cities of the Republic of Moldova offer examples and models worthy of following in the direction of knowledge of history and memory. However, the symbolic dimension of the commemorative actions comes to constitute for the memory of the victims of the communist regime one of the main forms of (re)knowing and intelligently assuming the traumatic past.

The exhibition presents the recourse to history and memory as an act of symbolic justice brought to all the victims of Operation "South" of July 5-6, 1949 in the Moldavian SSR, thus contributing to the building of a European culture of memory in the society of the Republic of Moldova.

The "Memory of Deportations" exhibition is opened to the large audience between July 3 - August 3, 2024, in the upstairs hall of the National Museum of History of Moldova (Chisinau municipality, str. 31 August 1989, 121A).

#Exhibit of the Month

Clay Vessel discovered in Speia Village, Dubăsari District

Opening of the exhibition „Memory of deportations”

July 3, 2024

#Exhibit of the Month