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.
Quelques considerations sur les relations politiques entre la Moldavie et la Venise en 15e siècle et le début du 16e siècle
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Dans le cadre de la politique extérieure de la Moldavie, de XVe siècle et les premiers ans du XVIe siècle (jusqu’à 1504), les relations avec la Venise occupe un lieu distincte, mais ne l’un de première importance. Les relations politiques de la Moldavie avec la Venise, institues avec certitude en décennie 4 du XVe siècle ont connu leurs maxime ampleur en le dernier quart de celui-ci siècle et les premières ans du XVIe siècle sous la deuxième partie de la règne d’Etienne le Grand.
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
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
The Bulgarian-Wallachian Empire and the Crusaders during the reign of the Tsar Boril Asen (1207-1218). From armed conflict to the political and military collaboration
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Vasile Mărculeț
Posible quaestor Justinianus exercitus: Germanus, son of Dorotheus
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], 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 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.