#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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Events Archive

Opening of the photo exhibition "Building Bridges Among Communities"

September 5, 2023

On September 5, at the National Museum of History of Moldova, was opened the photo exhibition "Building bridges between communities", a window to human connections and empathy through visual histories - a fascinating collection of images made by the participants of the second edition of the National Geographic Photo Camp in Moldova.

At the opening ceremony of the exhibition, Jeff Bryan, Director of the USAID Moldova Mission, and Steven Fisher, the British Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, emphasized the importance of social cohesion and communication, including visual communication, in a modern, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural society. Likewise, Eugen Sava, the General Director of the National Museum of History of Moldova, encouraged the young people to continue creating and come up with as many photo collections as possible.

Of course, among the guests of honor at the launch event were the camp participants themselves and the creators of the images exhibited at the museum, who shared their impressions, emotions and experiences during the five days spent at Comrat, in UTA Gagauzia. Some of them held a camera for the first time, others radically changed their vision of what a photo should look like or what their mission in a community is. And most importantly, they all made friendships that continue.

The second edition of the National Geographic photography camp in Moldova took place between May 15-19, 2023, in the town of Comrat. Most of the Gagauz community lives in this region in the south of the country, but also other ethnic groups. The National Geographic Photo Camp was more than an educational experience, it was a platform for social cohesion, understanding and tolerance. Young people from all corners of Moldova, including refugee communities in Ukraine, from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, met and collaborated in a unique way, together with five international photographers from National Geographic.

The photo exhibition "Building bridges between communities" can be visited until September 19, in Room no. 1 of the National Museum of History of Moldova, 31 August 1989 street, 121A.