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#Exhibit of the Month

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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.

Virtual Tour


Museum education

The "Movie at the Museum" Project

Is a weekly cinema program for all audiences. The project promotes historical and documentary films as a means of historical and intercultural knowledge. The CLIO museum cinema provides weekly historic and documentary film screenings as well as thematic programs (debates, comments, meetings with filmmakers and historians).

The museum's cinema archive includes more than 40 films:

Reconstitution films

1. Gumelnița. Bucșani (reconstructs the evolution of human society starting with prehistory) - 45 min.
2. Magia Cucuteni - The Magic of Cucuteni (reconstructs the great eneolithic civilization from South-Eastern Europe, Cucuteni civilization-TRIPOLI, mil V-IV BC.) - 25 min.
3. Cultura Cucuteni Tripolie - The Cucuteni Tripoli Culture (presents the Cucuteni ceramics - an exceptional heritage left by the eneolithic civizilation of sedentary farmers) - 20 min.

Documentaries

Empires

4. Bizanț - Imperiu pierdut - "Byzantium - a Lost Empire" (in English, with subtitles in Romanian) - 47 min

Rulers

5. Voievodul. Măria sa Ştefan cel Mare și Sfânt - "The Prince. His majesty Stephen the Great" - 26 min.
6. Constantin Brâncoveanu - Constantin Brancoveanu - 27 min.
7. Mihai Viteazul, dimensiunea europeană a unui erou - "Michael the Brave, the European dimension of a hero" - 29 min.

Monasteries

8.    Mănăstirea Putna - The Putna Monastery - 50 min.
9.    Mănăstirea Neamț- The Neamt Monastery - 25 min.
10.  Destinația Moldova. Mănăstirea Căpriana, Mănăstirea Hâncu - "Destination Moldova. The Capriana Monastery. The Hancu Monastery"- 15 min.

Old Cities

11.  Orheiul Vechi - Old Orhei- 29 min.

Revolutions and Wars

12. Arme cu tărie, suflet românesc - Hard Weapons, Romanian Soul (military aspects of the 1848 Revolution) - 31 min.
13. For the defense of the country and its independence (The war of independence from 1877-1878) - 26 min.
14. Ballad for independence (The war of independence from 1877- 1878) - 8 min.
15. Filmele Independenței - Movies of the Independence (documentary testimonials of the 1877- 1878 Independence War) - 52 min.
16. Oșteanul de la 1877- The 1877 Soldier (The 1877-1878 Independence War) - 7 min.
17. Pe aici nu se trece! - You cannot pass here! (the beginning of the first world war) - 24 min.
18. Ordin de luptă împotriva uitării - War Order Against Forgetting(war veterans remember the fighting that took place in the heroic year of 1917) - 27 min.
19. Răstignirea României - Romania's Crucifixion (territorial loss suffered by Romania in 1940) - 28 min.
20. Omenie în vremuri de restriște - Humanity in times of distress (support of Polish refugees in Romania during World War II) - 26 min.
21. Lagărul - The Camp (concentration camps during The Second World War) - 26 min.

Great Union of 1918

22. Basarabia- Bessarabia (the national movement between the years 1917-1918) - 48 min.
23. Marea Unire - The Great Union (Alba Iulia, December 1, 1918) - 38 min.

Crimes of communism


24. Golgota Basarabiei - Calvary of Bessarabia (crimes of communism in Bessarabia) - 62 min.
25. The expeditions of memory - 59 min.
26. Memorialul durerii - The memorial of pain (communist crimes in Romania) - 15 min.

Flag History

27.  Tricolorul din inimi - The Flag of Hearts - 20 min.

Military glory
28. The echo of the military glory of the Romanian people in the writings of Mihai Eminescu - 6 min.
29. From a nation of braves - 8 min. 

Recent History
30. The poor from Prut - 50 min.

Cultural Heritage

31.  Cartea religioasă medievală. Din colecția Muzeului Național de Arheologie și Istorie a Moldovei - Medieval religious books. From the collection of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova - 30 min.
32.  Chișinăul de odinioară în imagini - Old Chisinau in pictures (19th century - begging of the 20th century, based on the postcards owned by the museum) - 30 min.
33.  Chișinău - o capitală europeană - "Chisinau - a European Capital" (promoting potential investment, tourism and culture of the city) - 20 min.
34.  Alexandru Plămădeală și Şcoala de Arte Frumoase din Basarabia - Alexandru Plamadeala and the School of Fine Arts in Bessarabia (end of the 19th century - the ‘40s of the 20th century) - 17 min.

General Knowledge

35.  Christopher Columbus. A Lost Journey (in Russian) - 47min.
36.  Vladimir Vîsoțkii and Marina Vladi (in Russian) - 51min
37.  Nefertiti, Queen of Egypt (in English, with subtitles in Romanian)- 01.20 min

Historical Films

38.  Burebista - 136 min.
39.  Columna- The Column (Dacians during Decebal) - 130 min.
40.  Ştefan cel Mare - Stephen the Great- 128 min.
41.  Christopher Columbus. History of geographical discoveries (in Russian) - 115 min.



 

 


Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
  

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#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...

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

menu
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC