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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.

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Publications Journal „Tyragetia"   vol. V [XX], nr. 2


Cantemir’ s wills. Case Study (XVIII - beginning XIX centuries)
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Cantemir’ s wills. Case Study (XVIII - beginning XIX centuries)

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie

Wills are legal and historical documents, of particular importance in the research of family relations, everyday life and mentality of the era. They are an irreplaceable source in studying the evolution forms of inheritance, of the structure of such an act.

About representatives of Cantemir Dynasty have been published numerous essays, articles, monographs, taking into debate various aspects of their work or private life. But so far nobody has stopped detail on wills representatives Cantemir Dynasty, although some moments and passages of wills have been cited and discussed. The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the wills of Cantemir Dynasty representatives: Dmitry Cantemir (1673-1723), Antioch Cantemir (1708-1744), son of Dmitry Cantemir, Cantemir Maria (1700-1757), daughter of Dmitry Cantemir and Casandra, Ecaterina (Smaragda) Cantemir (1720-1761), daughter of Dmitry Cantemir and Anastasia Trubetskaia and Dmitry Cantemir (1749-1820), son of Gen. Constantin Cantemir, the nephew of Antioch Cantemir, the hospodar.

The Cantemir’s wills clearly reflect primarily the family relations. Deprivation of the right to inherit of one child (Dmitry Cantemir’s will the hospodar), the division of wealth between the few brothers (Antioch Cantemir’s will), naming her husband as the main heir (the will of Catherine-Smaragda Cantemir), changing his will in favor of his granddaughter (The will of Dmitry Cantemir, nephew) shows attitude of will maker to the most closest people. Also everyone is very careful in eternal sleep on site, although it shows the simplicity of the funeral.

In terms of the structure will, we can mention the standard form for making testament to Antioch Cantemir. From the fragments we have in our possession ca be affirmed that according tradition were prepared the wills of Mary Catherine and Dmitry Cantemir, the grandson. The testament’s form is different at Dmitry Cantemir, The prince, who established clearly step by step (on points) and addressing to the Russian Queen.

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Alina Felea
From the history of a family in Bessarabia of the early 19th century: the husband's inability to perform the conjugal duty
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Alina Felea
From family history in the Romanian space: Alcoholism and family relations in the 18th century in Moldavia and in the first decades of the 19th century in Bessarabia
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
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La population de la ville Soroca (XVI-XIX siècles)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
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Divorces in Bessarabia in the first half of the 19th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie



 

 

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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

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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