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.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The article is devoted to variety and character of the Scythian Amazon’s armaments. Archaeological finds of weapons and equipment of militant women is almost identical to the arms from the written and artistic sources. In general, women panoply completely consistent with the armament of the Scythian troops. Amazons preferred missile weapon, and almost did not use melee weapons. Amazons were studying the military art from an early childhood.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. Images of armed Amazons: 1-2 - on the golden Calaf from the kurgan Bol’shaja Bliznitsa; 3 - on red-figured vases. Fig. 2. Images of Amazons on red-figured pelikai. Fig. 3. The types of arrowheads from the burials of armed women: 1-2 - kurgan 9 near Staryj Merchyk village, 3-4 - kurgan 6 near Nowoje village; 5 - kurgan 34 from Chertomlyk cemetery; 6 - kurgan 13 of BOF group. 1, 4, 5 - bronze, 2 - iron, 3, 6 - wood. Fig. 4. Weapon from the burial mounds of Amazons: javelin-heads (1, 4) and spear points (2, 5), butt (3), slingshot stones (6). 1-3 - kurgan 13 from Steblev cemetery; 4-6 - kurgan 5 near Zelenoje village. 1-5 - iron, 6 - stone. Fig. 5. Scale armor from kurgan 5 near Zelenoje village. Fig. 6. Details of armor from kurgan 5 near Zelenoje village. Fig. 7. Details of bridle from kurgan 13 near Steblev village.
Elena Fialko, Yurii Boltryk
Textiles from Scythian burial complexes
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Елена Фиалко
The armed women of Early Iron Age in the Northern Pontic: social aspects
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], 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
