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.
New cartographic materials on the ancient ramparts of Budzhak
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The article presents new materials on the cartography of the ancient defensive valla of Southern Bessarabia, or Budzhak. In the scientific use there is introduced the previously unknown topographical map of 1864, which marked the coastal part of the Lower Dniester (Serpent's) Wall, as well as other data that clarify the topography of these sites.
List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Land plots of the Şaba and Şabalat villages on the map of Bessarabia of 1828.
Fig. 2. Fragment of A.P. Chirkov's „Special Map", 1864.
Fig. 3. Part of the Lower Dniester (Serpent's) Wall on A.P. Chirkov's „Special Map", 1864.
Fig. 4. Land plots of the Talmaza and Cioburciu villages on the map of Bessarabia of 1828.
Fig. 5. Land plot of Akkerman on the map of Bessarabia of 1828.
Fig. 6. Land plot of the Nekrasovka vilage on the map of Bessarabia of 1828.
Fig. 7. Area of the Monastyrsky Cape on the map of the Danube Delta of the European Danube Commission, 1887.
Fig. 8. Area of the Monastyrsky Cape on the German map of 1941.
Fig 9. Tashbunar village and a part of the Lower Trajan's Wall on the German map of 1941.
Fig. 10. Fortification near the Novosel'skoye village on the map of the Danube Delta, 1860s.
Fig. 11. Fortification near the Novosel'skoye village on "The map of the Balkan Peninsula covering the entire theatre of war of 1877-1878".
Игорь Сапожников
Petroasa hoard, Principality of Wallachia and Odessa Society of History and Antiquities in 1840s
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVIII [XXXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Alexander Kuzmishchev, Igor Sapozhnikov
Research of Olbia and its surroundings by count Alexey Sergeyevich Uvarov
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVIII [XXXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Майя Кашуба, Игорь Сапожников, Мария Медведева
The collections of Antiquities of the Northern Black Sea Region, acquired by the Imperial Archaeological Commission from P.A. Mavrogordato in 1903
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2021
Игорь Сапожников, Ольга Айсфельд
Cartography and archeology of Snake Island at the end of the 18th century - beginning of the 20th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVIII [XXXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Игорь Сапожников
Ancient defensive walls and roads around the Danube crossing near Lake Kartal: Experience of cartographic stratigraphy
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], 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.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
