#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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Publications

Albums

Ana Niculiţă

Ancient Jewelry from the Collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova (Catalog)

Series “Albums” III, Chişinău, 2018. 296 p. ISBN 978-9975-87-442-7.

This work presents to the reader the valuable historical adornments, familiarizes him with the artistic taste and the high level of craftsmanship of their creators, giving him the opportunity to take a journey in the depths of the ages to make an imagination of both the material world and the spiritual life of people of bygone eras.

The work Ancient Jewelry from the Collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova (Catalog) comprises a collection of over 2 thousand ornaments and objects of toreutics made of gold and silver, mostly discovered during the archaeological investigations in different types of sites dating from the Eneolithic to the late Middle Ages located on the present territory of the Republic of Moldova. Much of the items come from randomly discovered hoards of jewelry or hoards consisting of artifacts and coins.

The work includes three main parts.

The first chapter describes the objects of jewelry and toreutics discovered at archaeological sites of different historical periods.

The next chapter presents the hoards of ornaments or of artifacts and coins.

The objects are presented according to the following categories: adornments (earrings, temporal rings, rings, torcs, necklaces), clothing accessories (sewn-on plaques for headwear and clothing, buttons, fibulae), objects of toreutics (parts of horse harness, phalerae, scepter clips). A general characterization of the relevant historical period is also provided, complemented by information on the technique of manufacturing items. Each archaeological site is marked on a map corresponding to the historical period to which the artifacts are attributed.

The third part, the most significant, is the Catalog. Each object, or group of objects, is illustrated in color, for some items, details of the ornament, manufacturing techniques and other data are presented. For each artifact (or artifacts in the same category), there are given the name, type, place of discovery and type of archaeological site, the finder and the year of finding, the brief description: the metal of which the object is made (gold, silver), the metal purity, weight, dimensions, chronological framework, place of storage and inventory number, and selective bibliography.