#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.

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Scientific Conference „Union of Romanian Principalities of 1859: Historical Context and Contemporary Significance”

January 24, 2012

On 24 January 2012 the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova hosted the Scientific Conference "Union of Romanian Principalities of 1859: Historical Context and Contemporary Significance". In the opening session of the conference the audience was addressed with welcoming speeches by Mr. Gheorghe Negru, Acting President of the Association of Historians from Moldova, Mr. Ion Negrei, Vice President of the Association of Historians from Moldova, Mr. Gheorghe Postică, Deputy Minister of Culture of the Republic of Moldova, His Excellence Marius Lazurcă, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Romania to the Republic of Moldova, Dr. Gheorghe Cojocaru, director of the Institute of History, State and Law, Mr. Constantin Tănase, editor of the newspaper "Timpul de dimineață", Mr. Nicolae Dabija, editor of the weekly "Literatura și Arta", President of the Democratic Forum of Romanians from Moldova.

The reports presented at the conference aroused great interest among the public, which has overflowed the Blue Room of the museum. An important moment in the conference was the presentation of the book by Ion Constantin, Ion Negrei, Gheorghe Negru "Ioan Pelivan - Father of the National Movement in Bessarabia", Biblioteca Bucureștilor Publishing House, Bucharest, 2011. The participants in the conference received from the organizers as a donation a set of journals "Destin Românesc", 2011, no. 3, 4 and "Magazin Istoric", 2011, February - December.

The conference program can be found here.