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.
Power, legitimization and propaganda in Imperial Rome
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2007
Undoubtedly, the question of power and its legitimization is very important – both from theoretical and practical points of view. Certainly, the question of power and the process of its legitimization is worth of analysis and presentation not only on the examples of modern societies but also in case of societies in more or less distant past. And so, the prresent article deals with the question of power and its legitimization (especially by different means of propagandsa) on the example of ancient Rome – especially the so-called Principate, i.e. Early Roman Empire (27 B.C. – 284 A.D.). During the Empire, the main purpose of propaganda was to strenhten the position of emperor himself. During the empire all military victories were used also (or even first of all) to strengthen position of the emperor. Namely from such point of view is probably best to analyze such the monuments like the Trajan’s Column in Rome or the monument in Adamclissi (in modern Romania). Such the purposes served also triumphal arches, got instance the triumphal arch devoted to Septimius Severus and his family at Leptis Magna. Undoubtedly, the imperial propaganda proved itself to be a very successful tool of the imperial power, acting together with well trained and equipped Roman army and with very efficient Roman bureaucracy.
Marek Żyromski
The army as an important factor of social mobility in Roman Empire
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Jerzy Hatłas, Marek Żyromski
Protoierey Mihail Chakir – orthodox priest, gagauzian spiritual leader and historian (1861-1938) – and the question of emancipation of gagauzians as the independent nation
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Janusz Skoczylas, Marek Żyromski
The stonemasons’ signs in the social and political context
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Marek Żyromski
The patterns of promotion within the roman army and administration – patronage versus experience and specialization
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], 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.