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#Exhibit of the Month

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Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are rare in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Therefore, those few items found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova occupy a worthy place in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM). In particular, in the archaeological exhibition, two bronze cauldrons are displayed, discovered near the village of Nicolscoe in 1988 in burial mounds no. 14 and 15. In addition, in 2020, two bronze cauldrons without any accompanying documents were found in the collection of NMHM; however, they were visually identified as coming from various excavations in the Low Dniester region, such as burial mound no. 45 near Dubăsari and burial mound no. 1 near the Răscăieții Noi village.

The object presented as the exhibit of the month is a little-known find discovered in 1979 in barrow 1 near the village of Răscăieții Noi in the Ștefan Vodă district. In addition to its outstanding size (about 10 m high), this mound is known for discovering a cast bronze finial in the Scythian animal style on its surface in 1953. However, by the beginning of excavations, the locals had damaged part of the mound and a Scythian cast bronze cauldron was found near it. The cauldron was seriously damaged by mechanical impact, as a result of which the rim was deformed, and the walls, with one preserved vertical handle, were bent inwards. Fragments in the upper part of the body and one handle have been lost. The total reconstructed height of the cauldron is 24 cm (excluding the handles), the reconstructed diameter of the hemispherical cauldron is 30 cm, and the weight is 6.5 kg. In 2020, data on the chemical composition of the bronze cauldron alloy were obtained, revealing that it was cast from an alloy of almost 95 per cent copper. Unfortunately, due to the loss of information on the context of the discovery of the cauldron at Răscăieții Noi, it is impossible to link its discovery with one or another Scythian burial of the barrow. Moreover, the grave goods of other Scythian burials of Barrow 1 do not allow them to date below the 4th century BC. However, the cauldron with vertical handles from Răscăieții Noi most likely belongs earlier. This may be indicated by a bronze finial from the first half of the 5th century BC, which was found on this barrow in 1953. In addition, burial 7 from the nearest excavated barrow 2 at Răscăieții Noi, containing a plaque depicting a rolled predator (a copy of which is also on display at the NMHM), belongs to the mid- 5th century BC. Thus, there is a high probability that the cauldron from Barrow 1 at Răscăieții Noi is associated with the late Middle Scythian period or the mid-5th century BC.

Scythian bronze cauldrons in the west area are concentrated in three main regions: Bukovina-Podolia, the Lower Danube, and the Lower Dniester. Some Scythian cauldrons have no reliable archaeological context. Nevertheless, in combination with the same "stray" finds like the Scythian statues, the finds of Scythian cauldrons mark the Scythian presence, most likely not earlier than the late 6th century or even the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC. The cauldrons first appeared in Bukovina, where they have been known since the middle of the 7th century BC. Bronze cauldrons (with their carriers) entered the steppe region 150-200 years later, and the "military" burials that appeared in the western steppe regions were no earlier than the middle of the 5th century BC. Most burials with cauldrons (and, apparently, the stray finds) are dated back to the second half of the 5th century BC. Then, in the early 4th century BC, their quantity was reduced, and after the first quarter of the 4th century BC, they completely disappeared from the cultural practice of the population of the steppes of the North-Western Black Sea region.

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Publications Journal „Tyragetia"   vol. V [XX], nr. 1


Finds of coins in the late medieval cemetery of the Măzărache Church in Chișinău (excavations of 2010)
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Finds of coins in the late medieval cemetery of the Măzărache Church in Chișinău (excavations of 2010)

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

In summer 2010 there were carried out the first archaeological saving excavations in the old, historical part of Chișinău. Oral tradition and written sources indicate that the historical heart of Chișinău was located in the lower part of the modern city, by the river of Bâc. Apparently, the locality emerged by a spring had already existed in the second half of the 14th century, before the ousting of the Golden Horde from the south-eastern part of the Carpathian-Dniester area in 1370s - 1380s. On the opposite, left bank of the river a Tartar settlement was located.

On the right bank of the Bâc River, on the top of a hill with a spring at the foot, there is the Intercession of the Virgin (“Măzărache”) Church that was built, by different opinions, in 1739-1740 (Eșanu 1998, 56), 1742 (Ciocanu 2002, 39-43), or, according to other information, in 1752 (Chișinău 1984, 324). It was erected on the site of another, more ancient wooden church that had been burnt by the Turkish army in 1739 during the Russian-Turkish war of 1735-1739 (Eșanu 2001, 147).

In the course of the archaeological excavations there have been revealed some ceramic materials of the Late Bronze and the Early Iron Ages as well as numerous evidences of the medieval time. A ditch dated, apparently, from the 16th-17th centuries that closed the access to the promontory and remnants of a ground dwelling with a stone basement of the 17th-18th centuries are of the greatest interest. Here we found well preserved remains of a monumental architectural structure of red brick defined as an aqueduct constructed by A. Bernardazzi in the end of the 19th century (Bubis 1997, 59-62).

The excavations were conducted in the south-western periphery of the cemetery and directly at the northern apse of the church. In the area of about 100 m2 there were investigated 52 burials. The vast majority of them were of the Christian rite. Inventory of the burials is rather poor. In different burials there were found from one to five coins; bone, bronze or silver buttons; earrings; pottery fragments; rings; etc. During the investigation of the cemetery of the Măzărache Church in the historical part of Chisinau there were found 29 coins. 13 ones belong to the Hungarian issues of the 16th - early 17th centuries, one silver coin is a “poltorak” of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of the early 17th century and the other is Swedish shilling of the second half of the same century. The third undefined poorly-preserved European coin presumably belongs to these issues. Turkish coins (13 pieces) are in the majority of the 18th -nearly 19th century. Only three of them belong to the 16th-17th centuries.

As a result of the investigations in the cemetery it also can be stated that already in the second half of the 16th century the space of the promontory around the supposed wooden church was entirely occupied by burials of the local Christian community. The last burials were carried out in the first two decades of the 19th century, when a stone fence was built around the church.

List of figures:
Fig. 1. Coins found during the investigations of the Măzărache Church cemetery in Chișinău.

Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici, Serghei Agulnicov
The Giurgiulești earthen fortress. Preliminary research results
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], 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
Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici, Mariana Vasilache, Livia Sîrbu
The results of archaeological research in the Mazarache Church of Chișinău in 2010
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici
An incineration burial in metal urn (2nd-3rd c. AD) discovered at Iagorlîc, Dubăsari
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XII [XXVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici
Considerations regarding the 10th-11th century Scandinavian pendants with animal motifs or in the shape of hemispheric shield found in the Middle Dniester region
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2021



 

 

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#Exhibit of the Month

Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are rare in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Therefore, those few items found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova occupy a worthy place in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM)...

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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.
©2006-2024 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.
©2006-2024 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.
©2006-2024 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