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.
Reference points in the historiography of the Noul Neamț Monastery. Issues and interpretations
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The history of the Noul Neamț Monastery (1864), both ecclesiastic and secular, is known mainly by sources published in the late 19th - early 20th centuries. Few papers written in recent years do not cover the entire variety of issues regarding the history of the monastery and its library. Large contribution to the historiography of the monastic library introduced hieromonk Andronic (1820-1893), who compiled the fi rst catalogues of the collection. These catalogues require complex research involving long-term work with book collections in Moscow (State Historical Museum, Funds of Barsov and Shchukin), Saint-Petersburg (Library of the Academy of Sciences, Fund of Yatsimirsky) and in local archives (National Archives of the Republic of Moldova), which houses most of the catalogues (1864-1962) and a collection of books from the Noul Neamț monastic library (1199 volumes).
Maria Danilov
Florin Marinescu, Vlad Mischevca, Cărțile românești din biblioteca mănăstirii athonite Sfântul Pavel, Atena, 2010, 285 p., ISBN: 979-960-85542-3-8
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Maria Danilov
Dumitru Th. Pârvu, Problema Basarabiei în lumina principiilor actelor juridice internaționale (Contribuții la cunoașterea raporturilor diplomatice româno-ruse). Studiu introductiv, note și indice de nume de Ion Constantin, București: Editura Bibliote
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Maria Danilov
Censorship, library and books (the 19th century)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Maria Danilov
Ştefan Plugaru, Teodor Candu, Episcopia Hușilor și Basarabia (1598-1949). Editura PIM, Iași, 2009, 360 p.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Maria Danilov
Diffusion of imperial press in Bessarabia and censorship institutions
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], 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.