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.
Considerations regarding the Getian necropolis from Danceni
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
In specialized and historical literature an opinion took root that the Getian tribes of the eastern Carpathian region particularly those who inhabited the wooded region of Modlova in the 6th -4th centuries B.C. practiced biritualism (inhumation and cremation) in their burial rite.
A strong argument in favor of these opinions is the Danceni multi-layer burial ground. According to them, the Danceni horizon dates back to the 1st millennium B.C. It contains those Scythian-Thracian complexes where biritualism was practiced. Some researches use these complexes in order to argue the Thraco-Getian continuity in the region; others use them to show symbiosis of traditions in the formation of a new archaeological culture in the region, i.e. the Getian culture.
The detailed comparison information on the burial ground and its materials available from publications and re- ports on excavations allowed to single out among “the early Getian” finds of the Danceni burial ground, two hori- zons occurring at different times and ethno-different: Scythian with inhumation of the middle Scythian culture, and typically Getian with cremation which dates back to the end of 5th – beginning of 4th centuries B.C.
Alexandru Levinschi, Ivan Vlasenco
The Getae burial with cremation at the medieval settlement of Poiana I
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Alexandru Levinschi, Eugen Sava
The military camp of Charles XII at Varnița near the Bender Fortress
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Alexandru Levinschi
Preliminary data about initial period of getian settlement in fortified Saharna Mare
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2007
Ion Tentiuc, Alexandru Levinschi
Archaeological researches from Buzduganii de Jos in the Ţuțora Valley conducted in 2008. Preliminary research results
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
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 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.
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.
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.