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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




Heraldica Moldaviae, Vol. 2, 2019

Chişinău, 2019 (Tipogr. „Bons Offices”) – ISBN 978-9975-87-561-5. – 172 p.

Studies and papers


Lucian-Valeriu LEFTER

Hand and sun. Images and symbols of popular culture


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

Why the validity of a coat of arms does not expire


Ana BOLDUREANU

Commercial lead for fabrics of the city of Zwickau discovered in the Republic of Moldova


Sorin IFTIMI

Coat of arms of Iacob Heraklide Despot after the diploma awarded by Carol V


Олег НАУМОВ

Letters to P.G.Gore to L.M.Savelov as a source on history heraldry and genealogy


Ana-Felicia DIACONU

Dionisie Pecurariu (March 1, 1876 - April 4, 1960). Bibliography


Tudor-Radu TIRON

Always on duty, under the blue sights. Order "Aeronautical Virtue" and "Aeronautical Medal" between 1941–1947


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

Creating the heraldic identity of the Republic of Moldova: balances and directions of evolution


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

The new symbols of Ghindeşti, Biruința, Cantemir


Reviews


Ana-Felicia DIACONU

Karl Aun, The Estonian Flag a hundred years of blue-black-white, translated by Peeter Tammisto, Winchester, Massachusetts, USA: Flag Heritage Foundation, 2010, 24 p.: il., (The Flag Heritage Foundation Monograph and Translation Series, Publication No. 1)


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

David F. Phillips, Emblems of the Indian States, Winchester, Massachusetts, USA: Flag Heritage Foundation, 2011, (The Flag Heritage Foundation Monograph and Translation Series, Publication no. 2), 63 p.: il.


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

David F. Phillips, The Double Eagle, Danvers, Massachusets, USA: Flag Heritage Foundation, 2014, (The Flag Heritage Foundation Monograph and Translation Series, Publication no. 4), 160 p.: il.


Lucian-Valeriu LEFTER

Silviu Andrieş-Tabac, Stemele şi drapelele raioanelor Republicii Moldova, Chişinău: Muzeul Naţional de Istorie a Moldovei, 2018, 230 p.: il.


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

William M. Becker, Vatican flags. Keys & crowns since 1800: The flag of the Papal States and today’s Vatican = Raven: A Journal of Vexillology, North American Vexillological Association, volume 25, [Boston, USA], 2018, 164 p.: il.


Chronicle


Silviu ANDRIEŞ-TABAC

XIII Heraldry Symposium, Chisinau, April 24, 2019


 



 

 

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