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.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
In the present article the author debates the question on professional ethics and deontology in the field of archaeology. His works starts with some general appreciation of the terms of ethics and deontology and than continues with historic presentation of the development of the movement among archaeologists on development of the Code of Ethics.
The Codes of Ethics are considered as legal instruments, because most of them settles relations between archaeologists; between archaeologists and state bodies; between archaeologists and donors; between archaeologist and the native people or settled near to the archaeological sites. At the same time the Code of Ethics contains the list of principles and professional norms. Some experts consider that in this list shall be mentioned the aspects on political partisanat too.
One of the actual and common problems of the archaeologists is combating the black archaeology and illicit trade of antiquities. The names of archaeologists and institutions have not to be involved in such illegal phenomena.
The EEA Code of Practice and other international experience should be taken into account in the preparation of the national Code of Ethics according to the local realities and need. At the end of the paper the author is inviting the archaeological community from Moldova to establich a working group and prepare the draft of the Code which could be later discussed and approved.
Sergiu Musteață
Манаджемент археологического насследия и кража древностей в Республике Молдова
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Sergiu Musteață
Preservation of the historic heritage in USA
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
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Stefan Ihrig, Wer sind die Moldawier? Rumänismus versus Moldowanismus in Historiographie und Schulbüchern der Republik Moldova, 1991-2006, Stuttgart: ibidem-Verlag, 2008, ISBN-10: 3-89821-466-4
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Sergiu Musteață
Florin Curta, (Ed.), The Other Europe in the Middle Ages. Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans, Florin Curta, General Editor, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, volume 2, Leiden/Boston: BRILL, 2008, ISSN 1872-8103, ISBN 978 90 04 16389 8
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Sergiu Musteață
Marcin Woloszyn (Ed.), Byzantine coins in central Europe between 5th and 10th century. Proceedings from the conference organized by Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences and Institute of Archaeology University of Reszow under the patronage of Union Academique International. (Programme No. 57 Moravia Magna). Krakow, 23-26 IV 2007. Moravia Magna. Seria Polona III, Krakow, 2009, 684 pp., ISBN 978-83-7676-008-7
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], 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.