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#Exhibit of the Month

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The exhibit represents a fragment from a unique amphora discovered in 1988 in a ceramic kiln from the Chirileni III settlement (Sîngerei district), attributed to the Cucuteni-Tripolie archaeological culture stage CII (5th-4th millennia BC).

The ceramic fragment with painted human and geometric representations constitutes about 50% of the upper part of an amphora, made of clay paste without impurities. It is burned in an oxidizing environment, with a reddish color in the section. The inner surface of the vessel is covered with a pink-whitish color layer, and the smoothed and polished exterior is covered with a yellowish-gray engobe start. The body of the amphora is spheroidal with four pyramidal cakes on the shoulder, and the neck is high frustoconical with a short outwardly turned lip. The dimensions of the bowl: lip diameter - 18 cm; maximum body diameter - 43-45 cm; neck height - 13 cm; height of exposed fragment - 43 cm; the estimated total height of the vessel is 55-60 cm. Thickness at the lip - 6-7 mm, at the neck - 9-11 mm, and at the body - 10-13 mm.

The outer surface of the amphora in a proportion of about 4/5, except for the lower part, is bicolorly decorated with black and brown paint, the brush being used as a tool, which can be felt from the specific application of the lines. Two brushes were most likely used. The ornament is divided into three horizontal registers that surround the vessel dividing the interior into metopes. The decoration is composed of lines arranged vertically, horizontally or obliquely forming geometric compositions of the net type.

The special significance of the amphora resides in the representation in the middle register of the painting of the stylized scene of a female ritual dance. The scene painted on the body of the amphora represents the image of a group made up of 9 female characters assisted by two dogs and 3 snakes. The female images are represented schematically, with the emphasis on long legs, mini-trapezoidal skirts, short stretched bodies, folded dancing hands and pointed heads.

Vessels with painted anthropomorphic representations are very rare, being around 140 images of this kind known so far in the entire area of spread of the Cucuteni-Tripoli culture.

Based on the analysis of the shape of the vessel, the specific decoration and the context of the discovery, it can be admitted that the amphora from Chirileni belongs to the cult of the Mother Woman, the Great Goddess worshiped by the Eneolithic populations.


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Publications Journal „Tyragetia"   vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1


Early medieval bronze amulets representing horsemen from the Carpathian-Dniester region
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Early medieval bronze amulets representing horsemen from the Carpathian-Dniester region

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

Among the materials related to the early Middle Ages in the Carpathian-Dniester region, which have been discovered during archaeological excavations and reconnaissance, as well as among chance fi nds there are bronze amulets depicting a rider on a horse. The area of distribution of these bronze fi gures of riders includes extensive regions, starting from the North Caucasus and the middle reaches of the Don in the East to Central and South-Eastern Europe in the West. Most of the fi nds were discovered in the south of Russia, in Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary.

On the territory of the Prut-Dniester region (Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) it was found 24 bronze fi gures of riders (see fi g. 1) belonging to different typological models. They were found in the following settlements: Hansca (Ialoveni District) - 3 fi gures, Păhărniceni-Petruha - 2 objects, Lucășeuca and Furceni (Orhei District), Ocnița (Ocnița district), Briceni - 2 objects, Caracușenii Noi (Briceni District), Popeștii de Sus (Drochia District), Tătărăuca Veche - 2 objects, Balinți and Inundeni (Soroca District), Tarasova (Rezina District), Rezeni (Ialoveni District), Porumbrei and Schinoșica (Cimișlia District), Enichioi (Cantemir District), Dezghingea and Capaclia (Gagauzia) and Bolgrad (Odessa region) (see fi g. 1). Seven bronze fi gures, presented at «Violity» Auction & Antiques in Kiev, may also be originated from the Prut-Dniester region (see fi g. 6/1-6).

Analysis of bronze figures from this region allowed us to identify four types of objects. The fi rst type, or the Hansca I type, includes 7 amulets (see fi g. 2/1-2; 3/1-5, 7). All fi gures, but one, were found in the Prut-Dniester interfl uve. They depict a rider sitting on a small horse saddled, turning to the left. The rider is depicted in profi le. The position of his feet indicates the presence of stirrups. Rider is shod in boots (?) with an upturned toe; his legs touch the front and hind legs of the horse. In his right hand he holds the reins, and in the left hand, strongly bent at the elbow and pressed against his chest, he holds a short knife or dagger. The upper part of the fi gure (a horseman's head) has a through hole for hanging. In our opinion, the relative chronology of this type of bronze fi gures of horsemen (Hansca I type), which have no analogues in other regions, may cover a period of the 10th - 13th centuries, and absolute dating is the 10th - 11th centuries.

The second type (the Hansca II type) includes 15 riders' fi gures (see fi g. 4/1-2; 5/1-12). They depict a horse and rider. The rider's body is turned to the left; he is shown from the front. His both hands are holding a long, slightly curved saber. The rider is shod in short shoes, which does not touch the horse's legs, as in the fi gures of the first type. Amulets of this type have analogies in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and other countries. They belong to the 10th - 11th centuries and, quite possibly, to the beginning of the 12th century.

The last two types of bronze fi gures (the Hansca III and Bolgrad IV types) are unique in style. The fi gure relating to the Hansca III type (fi g. 6/7) shows a rider turned to the left; it is a schematic image. At the front of the horse there is a tamga in the form of a petal and at the back of the horse there is the same tamga in the form of a drop (?). The bronze fi gure found in Bolgrad (the Bolgrad IV type) (fi g. 6/8) depicts a rider turned to the right. In his left hand he holds the reins and in his right hand he holds perhaps hunting eagle. These bronze fi gures have no direct analogies. The authors attribute the appearance of these categories of objects in the regions east of the Carpathians to the penetration of various groups of the Alanian population in the 2nd half of the 1st millennium and the fi rst centuries of the 2nd millennium AD. Their presence north of the mouth of the Lower Danube is evidenced by written sources and place names.

List of illustrations:

Fig. 1. Map of the spread of bronze amulets representing horsemen in the East Carpathian region. Type I: 1 - Hansca; 2, 3 - Briceni; 4 - Lucășeuca; 5 - Păhărniceni-Petruha; 6 - Schinoșica; 7 - Enichioi. Type II: 8 - Hansca; 9 - Ocnița; 10 - Caracușenii Noi; 11, 12 - Tătărăuca Veche; 13 - Balinți; 14 - Inundeni; 15 - Popeștii de Sus; 16 - Tarasova; 17 - Furceni; 18 - Păhărniceni; 19 - Rezeni; 20 - Porumbrei; 21 - Dezghingea; 22 - Capaclia; 25 - Stăvărăști. Type III: 23 - Hansca. Type IV: 24 - Bolgrad.

Fig. 2. Bronze amulets representing horsemen of the Hansca I type: 1 - Hansca; 2 - Briceni.

Fig. 3. Bronze amulets representing horsemen of the Hansca I type: 1 - Hansca; 2 - Lucășeuca; 3 - Păhărniceni-Petruha; 4, 7 - Briceni; 5 - Enichioi; 6 - «Violity» Auction & Antiques, Kiev.

Fig. 4. Bronze amulets representing horsemen of the Hansca II type: 1 - Popeștii de Sus; 2 - Capaclia.

Fig. 5. Bronze amulets representing horsemen of the Hansca II type: 1 - Hansca; 2 - Caracușenii Noi; 3 - Capaclia; 4 - Popeștii de Sus; 5, 11 - Tătărăuca Veche; 6 - Dezghingea; 7 - Păhărniceni; 8 - Furceni; 9 - Ocnița; 10 - Inundeni; 12 - Balinți.

Fig. 6. Bronze amulets representing horsemen of the II type (1-6), III type (7) and IV type (8): 1-6 - «Violity» Auction & Antiques, Kiev; 7 - Hansca; 8 - Bolgrad.

Ion Tentiuc
Aspects of funeral rite and ritual in the Prut-Dniester region in the early Middle Ages (The Molești-Ialoveni necropolis)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2007
Gheorghe Postică
Elena Ploșnița, Concepte muzeografice cu profil de istorie: retrospectivă și perspectivă. Biblioteca "Tyragetia", Chișinău, 2008, 248p.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Gheorghe Postică
The early medieval spirituality in the Prut-Nistru space
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Gheorghe Postică
Die Perlenmosaik mit Miniaturporträts des römischen Kaisers Konstantin der Große, Constantinus II und Constantius II aus Bursuceni, Republik Moldau
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Ion Tentiuc
Sergiu Matveev, Procesele etno-culturale din spațiul carpato-nistrean în secolele II-XIV. Istoriografia sovietică. Chișinău: Pontos, 2009, 230 p. text + 5 tabele
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică



 

 

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#Exhibit of the Month

The exhibit represents a fragment from a unique amphora discovered in 1988 in a ceramic kiln from the Chirileni III settlement (Sîngerei district), attributed to the Cucuteni-Tripolie archaeological culture stage CII (5th-4th millennia BC)...

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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.
©2006-2023 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.
©2006-2023 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.
©2006-2023 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