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.
Die absolute Datierung der Katakombengrabkultur im Nördlichen Schwarzmeerraum
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
In den letzten zwei Jahrzehnten sind zahlreiche 14C-Datierungen für Komplexe der Katakombengrabkultur durchgeführt worden. Die mehr als 127 vorliegenden Daten müssten eigentlich ausreichen, um sowohl die Kultur selbst als auch ihre einzelnen Phasen als auch zumindest einige der Regionalgruppen relativ sicher absolut zu datieren. Doch statt eine Klärung zu bringen, ist eher weitere Verwirrung entstanden. Die Gründe hierfür sind vielfältig, so wurden oft Datierungen ohne archäologischen Kontext publiziert, meist wurden von den Laboren nur die Jahreszahlen in BP und BC ohne weitere Information angegeben usw. Im ersten Teil des Beitrags wird auf die häufigen Missstände beim Umgang mit 14C-Datierungen eingegangen. Danach wird trotz oft unzureichender Vorlage eine absolute Eingrenzung der frühen Katakombengrabkultur im Nördlichen Schwarzmeergebiet versucht, die derzeit mit Vorbehalt von 2800 bis 2500 v.Chr. datiert werden kann. Auf sie folgen im unteren Dneprgebiet Komplexe der Inguler Kultur, die ebenso vorsichtig in die Zeit 2500-2000 v.Chr. zu stellen ist. Als Letztes wird der vorsichtige Umgang mit 14C-Datierungen angemahnt, die vollständige Publikation der naturwissenschaftlichen und archäologischen Angaben sowie die Datierung mehrerer Grabkomplexe aus einem Kurgan, der am besten eine noch klar erkennbare Abfolge chronologisch unterschiedlicher Gräber enthält.
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.