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.
Constantin F. Cazimir’s activity within the Bessarabian zemstva
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The article comes to fill in a page from the life and activity of C.F. Cazimir (1860-1910) – remarkable personality from the history of Bessarabia from the end of 19th century-beginning of 20th century, important patron of culture, man of bright intelligence, landowner and good householder. We attempt at elucidating, based on historical documents (the meetings of the zemstva’s Assembly) stored in the heritage of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova, his activity within the zemstva – a body of local administration, introduced in Bessarabia in 1869.
C.F. Cazimir worked for more than two decades in the provincial and county zemstva (Hotin and Bălți), where he affirmed himself as a great promoter of education, medicine and agriculture. The catastrophic situation from Bessarabia (more than 50% from the number of boys and over 80% of girls were illiterate) could not be tolerated any more, the indifference of the clerks was overwhelming, made of this subject a constant in zemstva’s working agenda. At the meeting of Zemstva’s assembly, C. F. Cazimir had brought strong critics to its incapacity of solving the problem, especially, the decision to “bandy” the primary education to the county zemstva. He pleaded for well trained teachers and equipped schools where would study as many as possible children. He supported the idea of school libraries with a collection of books “to the benefit of pupils and teachers”, himself being the founder of the library from village Văscăuți.
Being a good specialist, C.F. Cazimir manifested a special interest for the agrarian schools where, along his personal investigations in the field, he had raisin this problem at the public institutions as well. He was the tutor of the agrarian school from Grinăuți who became a forgery of personnel for agriculture. He had proven his civic attitude in medicine also. Besides the hundreds of scholarships granted, as adviser, to the future medical specialists, he was an adept of an active policy of combating epidemics. He had criticized the hygienic conditions from the psychiatric hospital from Costujeni, institution which enjoyed the most consistent subsidy from the provincial administration.
He was elected in 1901 a member of the commission for the construction of the driveway Chișinău-Criuleni, along with the mayor of Chișinău, K. Schmidt, advisers I. Sârbu, V. Varzari and engineer M. Şostovski.
Ana Grițco
The First World War (1914-1918) in deltiology
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Ana Grițco
Building of the Hârbovăț Community of Nurses in Chișinău (late 19th - early 20th centuries): the image and history
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Ana Grițco
The church – a hypostasis of the charity gesture from Bessarabia in the modern period
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Ana Grițco
Scientific activity in Bessarabia as reflected in works of some figures (1812-1918). From the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVII [XXXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Ana Grițco
Advertising postcards in the collections of the National Museum of the History of Moldova (late 19th c. - the 1st half of the 20th c.)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
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.