#Exhibit of the Month

The ceramic vessel set was discovered accidentally in October 2025 in the southwestern part of the village of Bălceana, Hâncești District, approximately 1.2 km from the Lăpușnița River. The archaeological materials were recovered by the National Archaeological Agency.

The ceramic assemblage consists of a large storage vessel (pithos) with a capacity of 20 litres (h = 39.2 cm; d = 35.0 cm), decorated with a raised band below the rim; a medium-sized bowl with a capacity of 2.5 litres (h = 16.9 cm; d = 23.2 cm); a medium-sized jug with a capacity of 0.6 litres (h = 12.0 cm; d = 13.4 cm); and the base of a jar-shaped vessel.

The coarse handmade pottery was produced using the coil-building technique, by stacking and shaping coils of clay prepared from a paste tempered with crushed fired clay (grog) and sand. The vessel surfaces are uneven and covered with a yellowish-red slip featuring black patches, while the core of the vessel walls is black in colour.

The three vessels preserved intact display well-defined biconical shapes, with their maximum diameter at the middle of the body and straight or slightly oblique rims with rounded edges. Pottery of this type is characteristic of the Early Medieval cultural area of the northern and northwestern Black Sea region, dating from the 5th to the 7th centuries. East of the Dniester River, on the territory of present-day Ukraine, analogous pottery is found in Penkovka-type settlements, while in the Carpathian-Dniester region it is characteristic of settlements belonging to the Costișa-Botoșana-Hansca cultural group.

Within the Prut-Dniester region, coarse biconical pottery is generally represented by fragments and only relatively rarely by complete vessels, such as those discovered at Hansca, Dănceni, Recea, Seliște, Păhărniceni, and other sites. This type of pottery constituted an indispensable component of the local material culture during the 5th-7th centuries. In this context, the discovery at Bălceana of an almost intact set of coarse biconical vessels represents a relatively rare find of considerable scientific importance.

According to certain hypotheses, the tradition of coarse biconical pottery dating to the 5th-7th centuries originated in the North Pontic region. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that these biconical ceramic vessels were the result of contemporary ethnocultural interactions, developing simultaneously across the vast territory extending from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dnieper River and the Seversky Donets.

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Events Archive

The “Coronation Centenary Caravan” was on the trail of the royal visits from the Republic of Moldova

September 3, 2022

A new stop of the Coronation Centenary Caravan, a project organized by the Artis Association in partnership with the City Hall of the Municipality Iași, took place between September 2-3, 2022, in Chisinau, in the presence of ambassadors Irina-Margareta Nistor (Cinema Ambassador), Adrian Cioroianu (Historian, Ambassador), Nicolae Pepene (Historian, Ambassador), Alexandru Muraru (Historian, Ambassador) and of the special guest - Pedro J. Fuentes Cid (Jurist, Cuban dissident).

Approximately 500 students and teachers from the capital of the Republic of Moldova participated in events that marked the Centenary of the Coronation of King Ferdinand I and Queen Maria, within the project organized under the auspices of the Royal Family of Romania.

On Saturday, September 3, the National Museum of History of Moldova hosted the episode number 13 of the Coronation Centenary Caravan. It hosted experiences, confessions and emotions that reminded of Maria - the Heart of Romania.

At the end of the screening of the documentary Maria – The Heart of Romania (director Trevor Poots), took place one of the most emotional question-and-answer sessions within the project. It was a session of confessions from the spectators, many of whom were students, teachers or tour guides. The reactions were different, full of emotion and admiration.

"I come from the period when we were discussing about Stephen the Great, about the Romanian people, and I was burning with the desire to reach Romania one day. I never dreamed then that I would present Romania to tourists from the Republic of Moldova, I am a guide to this day. Thank you for making an extraordinary journey and softening my soul and heart! You came home, I've been waiting for you!"

"The most beautiful surprise for me was this museum. It is so well cared for, so inspiringly organized that it was a surprise that reached my heart, I felt at home" - Nicolae Pepene, historian and ambassador of the project.

"Talking about the Centenary of the Coronation means talking about statehood, patriotism, loyalty, steadfastness. That is, these values that Royalty and the Royal Family have embraced so well. Not only during the eight decades that the monarchy was part of the political structure of the Romanian State, but also after" - Alexandru Muraru, ambassador of the project.

"I think it's very nice that I arrived in Chisinau on Thursday, Queen Maria also came here on a Thursday, so I think she arranged it to be that way. The films have also been picked up by the History Channel here and across the ocean, so you can be sure that they're not just showing a good picture or the things that set you up for one reason or another. It's really a real history lesson" - Irina-Margareta Nistor, Cinema Ambassador.

After each film screening, there were Q&A sessions with guests present, as well as the opening of the exhibition 1922. The Year of the Coronation (curator Nicolae Pepene). Entry to all events was free.

Coronation Centenary Caravan in Chisinau was organized with the support of the Romanian Cultural Institute in Chisinau and the Dulcinella patisserie chain.

The National Museum of History of Moldova is honored to host such a large-scale event, in the hall where the emblems of royalty are at home!