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.
Preparation and implementation of the notarial reform of April 14, 1866 in Bessarabia
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Keywords: Bessarabia, Russian Empire, notary reform, promissory notes, land acts, entrepreneurial and property rights.
Резюме: The subject proposed in this article, though it seems only a matter of the history of jurisprudence, is also important in the study of issues related to domestic and foreign trade in Bessarabia, as almost all important transactions of purchase and sale in this period were made under the contracts, which should be notarized.
Before the adoption of the reform, notarial attributions were owned mainly by judicial institutions and even police authorities, that did not contribute to the efficiency and clarity of judicial proceedings. Russian statesmen were well aware of the need for reform in this area. However, a new Notarial Regulation in the Russian Empire was adopted only on 14 April 1866 within the judicial reform. The innovations only partially met the objective requirements of the development of bourgeois relations, but more reasonable project was previously rejected. Thus, the western model of separation of the notarial and judicial activities has been adopted only in part. Russian legislature was aimed at creating an independent institution with broad powers in the protection of the entrepreneurial and property rights and interests, but the reforms did not clearly defined competences in this regard. Notary rights were also granted to magistrates, namely in the field of authentication of various acts concluded between landowners and peasants.
With regard to Bessarabia, we note that by order of the Minister of Justice, the regional prosecutor, as in the other provinces of the Russian Empire, in June 1866 prepared a comprehensive report on the status of notaries in the local towns. However, the judicial reform was not yet extended to Bessarabia. Only from December 1, 1869 by the Decree of the Senate, the Notarial Regulation adopted in 1866 should have been applied in Bessarabia. Regarding the Romanian territories ceded to Russia in 1878, the notarial reform in the newly instituted Izmail Uyezd was introduced by the Decree of September 21, 1878.
Andrei Emilciuc
The role of land transport in Bessarabian commerce (1812-1853)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
Andrei Emilciuc
Comparative evolution of the customs system in Bessarabia and Romania (1859-1914)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XVI [XXXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
The Medal “For Works on Excellent Performance of General Mobilization in 1914” from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2015
Andrei Emilciuc
Salt trade in Bessarabia in the context of the inclusion of the province in the economic system of the Russian Empire (1812-1850)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
Establishment and functioning of the public granaries in Bessarabia (1834-1856)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIII [XXVIII], 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.