#Exhibit of the Month

The exhibited necklace of beads originates from Funerary Complex No. 6 of Kurgan No. 4, excavated in 1982 by Dr. Habil. Eugen SAVA near the town of Taraclia. The beads were found in the chest area of the deceased, indicating that they had been worn as a necklace and had remained in their original position within the funerary assemblage.
The necklace consists of 11 elements made entirely of Egyptian faience. Eight of the beads are spherical and decorated with vertical incisions forming between 14 and 21 raised ribs. Their diameters range from 13 to 20 mm. Two additional elements are scarab representations measuring 23.5 × 19.5 mm, while the final component is a flattened cylindrical pendant bead featuring a central vertical groove and measuring 22 × 9 mm. The objects range in color from light blue to dark blue and violet hues, reflecting the natural deterioration and glaze variations characteristic of Egyptian faience.
Egyptian faience is an artificial quartz-based material coated with an alkaline glaze, typically blue or blue-green in color. It was widely used in Ancient Egypt and later spread throughout the Mediterranean and Pontic regions through trade networks. During the first centuries AD, such objects served as important indicators of cultural and economic contacts between the Mediterranean world and the communities of the North Pontic region.
Owing to its typological, technological, and symbolic characteristics, the Taraclia necklace is an exceptionally valuable artifact for the study of intercultural relations, the circulation of prestige goods, and the funerary practices of the Sarmatian communities during the first centuries AD (1st-2nd centuries AD).

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Events Archive

The National Session of Archaeological Reports (campaign 2021)

April 20, 2022

On April 20, 2022, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the National Archaeological Commission, the National Session of Reports "Archaeological Research in the Republic of Moldova, Campaign 2021" took place. The scientific meeting was organized in partnership by the National Archaeological Agency and the National Museum of History of Moldova on the occasion of the International Day for Monuments and Sites celebrated annually on April 18.

During the session, which took place at the National Museum of History of Moldova, 21 scientific communications were presented. Some of them concern preventive and/or rescue archaeological research coordinated by the National Archaeological Agency, including the investigations at the multi-layered site of Costești-Gârlea (Ialoveni district). We should also mention the preventive investigations at the Soroca Fortress and in the area of the former Church Museum in Chișinău, coordinated by Dr. habil. Sergiu Musteață, which gave very important results. It is also worth mentioning the communication regarding the rescue investigations of the multi-layered site of Lipoveni, presented by Dr. Sergiu Matveev and Dr. Vlad Vornic, who provided interesting discoveries related to the Iron Age, in particular the finds dated the 1^st-2^nd centuries AD.

Among the communications concerning systematic research, it is worth highlighting those regarding the investigations coordinated by Dr. Aurel Zanoci and Dr. Octavian Munteanu and aimed at discoveries in the Saharna and Old Orhei microzones related to the Iron Age and the early Middle Ages. Of particular interest was the communication presented by Mariana Vasilache regarding the interdisciplinary non-invasive research carried out by a joint Moldavian-German team at 14 sites (13 Cucuteni sites and a settlement of the Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov culture) in the north of the Republic. Moldova. Dr. Ghenadie Sîrbu presented the unpublished results of excavations at Gordinești II-Stînca goală, carried out on the basis of a Moldavian-Polish project.

In conclusion, the participants confirmed the need for archaeological research using interdisciplinary methods, which must be continued and expanded in the coming years. Archaeological heritage is the hallmark of the national heritage of the Republic of Moldova at the international level, it must be explored, developed and protected!

The program of the session is available here, summaries of communications can be found here.