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.
First “advertisements” in the Bessarabian press (1854-1899)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
This article deals with advertising history in Bessarabia of 19th – beginning of 20th centuries. Advertising has existed for a long time and has become a part of our lives. First periodical advertising had a large format and mainly contained informational-propaganda materials, such as different decrees, laws and other administrative documents.
As the economy expanded at the end of 19th c. and foreign suppliers appeared on the Bessarabian market advertising became commercial. Newspapers, magazines, address calendars, catalogues included ads for drapery, grocery and services published in Russian. The purpose of this work is to reveal historic and documental nature of commercial advertising.
Vera Serjant
Collection of Academician Anton Ablov from the holdings of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVIII [XXXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Vera Serjant
Bessarabian daily newspapers as a means of advertising. From the collection of periodicals of NMHM (end of 19th - early 20th centuries)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Vera Serjant
The role of Bessarabian Zemstva in opening the school of viticulture and winemaking from Saharna
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Vera Serjant
Agricultural advertising in periodicals of the late 19th - early 20th centuries from the collection of NMHM
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Vera Serjant
Medals from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova, dedicated to the event of the Great Union
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XII [XXVII], 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.