The metal vessel was likely used as a funerary urn. It was found together with another vessel, shaped like a shell and used as a lid for the urn, in a landslide along the road within the Yahorlyk Nature Reserve, Dubăsari District. The village of Yahorlyk is located at the mouth of the stream of the same name, a left tributary of the Dniester River. The vessel belongs to the Hemmoo type (or Eggers 63) and is a rare find in the late ancient sites of the 2nd-3rd centuries AD. Researchers consider this type of vessel to be of Italic, Gallo-Italic, or Mediterranean origin, frequently used as a funerary urn or burial inventory by the Bastarnae. Upon discovery, the vessel was reportedly filled with "earth and burnt bones."
The vessel was found together with a brass sheet vessel that had undulated or fluted walls. It has a height of 14.9 cm (without the base ring). The diameter of the vessel's body is 19.5 cm, and the total height is 16.2 cm. The rim of the vessel flares outward with a diameter of 20.5 cm. The vessel is made from thin brass sheet, only 0.1 cm thick. The upper part of the vessel is modestly ornamented. The middle of the rim, on the exterior, has a shallow horizontal line incised. The transition from the rim to the body is marked by a wide groove, 0.3 cm in width. From this groove, the rim thickens to 0.25 cm. On the upper part of the rim, on two symmetrically placed sides, semicircular handles with stepped bases were cut out. The handles are 2.2 cm in height and 5.1 cm in width. Including the "steps" at the base, the handles are 6.1 cm wide. In the middle of each handle, a circular elongated hole was made for the attachment of a handle, measuring 1.2 x 1.5 cm.
The ornamentation on the upper part of the vessel's body consists of two bands, each formed by two parallel incised lines, spaced 0.2 to 0.4 cm apart. The interval between the two bands is 0.9 cm. The vessel's handle is semicircular, mobile, fairly thick, rectangular in cross-section (0.8 x 0.9 cm), and made from a rounded brass bar. The ends of the handle are thinned to 0.6 cm and widened to 0.9 cm over a length of 2.6 cm, resembling bird heads. On the median part of the bar, incised marks resembling Roman numerals IX and XI are present. The bottom of the vessel was made from a separate brass sheet, worked by pressing on a lathe. Evidence of this process is the indentation from the lathe's fixing rod, preserved in the central part of the vessel's bottom. Surrounding this indentation is an ornament consisting of two bands of concentric lines, with diameters of 1.8 cm and 5.9 cm, respectively. The lower part of the vessel is raised and rests on a ringed base, formed by shaping the vessel's walls and bending the piece that formed the actual bottom. This base has a diameter of 8.7 cm.
For the North-West Pontic and East-Carpathian regions, several scattered sites or points where fragments of metal vessels were discovered, used as funerary inventory or urns, should be mentioned. These include discoveries from the funerary complexes of flat necropolises dated to the first centuries AD, at Hansca-Lutăria II and Dănceni-Ialoveni. Here, excavations identified noble graves with fragments of bronze vessels with metal handles, similar to the vessel from Yahorlyk.
On the relations between the Vlach-Bulgarian Tsardom and the Byzantine Empire in 1197-1204
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2015
Abstract
In 1197 Ionitsa (Kaloyan) Asen came to the throne of the Second Bulgarian (or the Vlach-Bulgarian) Tsardom. Having ascended to the throne, he inherited strained relations with the Byzantine Empire. During the first two years of reign the new tsar did not engage in military actions against Byzantium. In this period of time he consolidated his internal positions, strengthened the relations with the Cumans and had made alliances with two other Vlach rulers, Dobromir Chrysos from Macedonia and Ivanko from Thrace, who rebelled against Byzantium. Around 1199 Ionitsa Asen resumed the war with the Empire, opposing her possessions in the north-west of the Balkan Peninsula, the Middle Danube and northern Macedonia. During these campaigns the Vlach-Bulgarian sovereign attached to his possessions lands lying between Vidin and Belgrade. Along with the resumption of hostilities against Byzantium in the north-west of the Balkan Peninsula, the allies of the ruler of Tarnovo – the Vlachs and the Cumans from Northern Danube attacked the Byzantine possessions in Thrace. Between 1199 and 1200/1201 they attacked this region for several times. In the spring of 1201 Ionitsa Asen started his own military campaign against Byzantine possessions in Thrace, during which he conquered the strongholds of Konstanteia and Varna. In March-April 1201 he signed a peace treaty with the Emperor Alexios III Angelos. Under this treaty, both sides defined the boundaries of their possessions. The treaty did not normalize relations between Tarnovo and Constantinople and they continued to be strained. Both sides violated it on various occasions.
Vasile Mărculeț, Ioan Mărculeț
Byzantine military-administrative units in the Eastern Bulgaria and on the Lower Danube during the reign of John I Tzimisces
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Vasile Mărculeț
Considérations concernant le titre et le statut politique-juridique international des dynastes de la Dobroudja du XIVe siècle
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Vasile Mărculeț
La politique de l'empereur Flavius Valens au Bas-Danube 364-370. La perte de la Dacie meridionale
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Mărculeț
Considerations regarding the defense components of the lower Danube limes at the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th century. The land forces recorded by Notitia Dignitatum
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVII [XXXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Mărculeț
Jerémias - un métropolite ignoré de la Hungrovalachie du début du XVe siècle
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The metal vessel was likely used as a funerary urn. It was found together with another vessel, shaped like a shell and used as a lid for the urn, in a landslide along the road within the Yahorlyk Nature Reserve, Dubăsari District. The village of Yahorlyk is located at the mouth of the stream of the same name, a left tributary of the Dniester River...
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.
The vessel was found together with a brass sheet vessel that had undulated or fluted walls. It has a height of 14.9 cm (without the base ring). The diameter of the vessel's body is 19.5 cm, and the total height is 16.2 cm. The rim of the vessel flares outward with a diameter of 20.5 cm. The vessel is made from thin brass sheet, only 0.1 cm thick. The upper part of the vessel is modestly ornamented. The middle of the rim, on the exterior, has a shallow horizontal line incised. The transition from the rim to the body is marked by a wide groove, 0.3 cm in width. From this groove, the rim thickens to 0.25 cm. On the upper part of the rim, on two symmetrically placed sides, semicircular handles with stepped bases were cut out. The handles are 2.2 cm in height and 5.1 cm in width. Including the "steps" at the base, the handles are 6.1 cm wide. In the middle of each handle, a circular elongated hole was made for the attachment of a handle, measuring 1.2 x 1.5 cm.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
