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.
Les symboles héraldiques de la commune de Lipnic, district d’Ocnița
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
La commune de Lipnic, district (raion) d'Ocnița est formée de deux villages - Lipnic (première mention le 19 septembre 1436) et Paustova (première mention le 20 décembre 1437). Les deux villages n'ont pas porté de symboles héraldiques et vexillologiques historiques. Les armoiries et les drapeaux des deux villages, ainsi que ceux de la commune, ont été élaborés et approuvées en 2011-2012, à l'initiative du maire Valentina Lupulciuc. La commune de Lipnic est la deuxiemme commune de la République de Moldavie, qui a résolu le problème des symboles héraldiques en complex, créant trois paires d'enseignes en relation organique.
Outre la méthode traditionnelle des armes parlantes, la méthode d'assomption des armes historiques liées à un territoire a été de même utilisée. Ainsi, ont été reprises les armoiries des boyards moldaves de la fin du XIVe siècle
- la première moitié du XVe siècle: seigneur Vâlcea de Lipnic et seigneur Mihail de Dorohoi, le premier propriétaire connu des deux domaines. Leurs armes sont connus d'après leurs sceaux, apposeés sur des actes d'hommage des princes régnants de Moldavie au roi de Pologne, conservées aujourd'hui dans les archives polonaises.
Les nouveles enseignes ont été conçues par l'auteur et dessinées par le peintre Iurie Caminschi.
Liste d'illustrations:
Fig. 1-2. Les sceaux de seigneur Vâlcea de Lipnic: 1421 et 1434.
Fig. 3-4. Les sceaux de seigneur Mihail de Dorohoi: 1395 et 1421.
Fig. 5. L'aureus de l'empereur romain Vespasien (69-79 AD), l'avers et le revers.
Fig. 6. Le denier de l'empereur romain Antoninus Pius (138-161 AD), l'avers et le revers.
Fig. 7-8. Les armoiries et le drapeau du village de Lipnic, commune de Lipnic.
Fig. 9-10. Les armoiries et le drapeau du village de Paustova, commune de Lipnic.
Fig. 11-12. Les armoiries et le drapeau de la commune de Lipnic.
Silviu Andrieș-Tabac
Emblems of justice in the contemporary Moldavian heraldry
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Silviu Andrieș-Tabac
La tradition mythique dans l’historiographie roumaine sur l’origine des armoiries du Pays Moldave
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Silviu Andrieș-Tabac
The flags derived from the state flag of Republic of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Silviu Andrieș-Tabac
Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei. The National Museum of History of Moldova. Национальный музей истории Молдовы. 1983-2003: [album]. Volum elaborat de Eugen Sava, Aurelia Cornețchi, Elena Postică, Elena Ploșnița, Chișinău: Casa Editorial-Poligra
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Silviu Andrieș-Tabac
Les armoiries et les drapeaux des villes Anenii Noi, Cimișlia, Fălești, Leova, Nisporeni
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], 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.