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.
Roman coins in the forest-steppe on left bank of the Dnieper: general characteristics, distribution and major problems in the study
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The spread of Roman coins in the territory of the Chernyakhov culture is different in different regions. The article is devoted to the study of this issue in the forest-steppe of the left bank of the Dnieper. Systematic study of ancient coins began here in the early 20th century, but has been intensified in the last years. Currently, there is known not less than about 208 of find spots of Roman coins with a total of not less than 8150 copies (at least 390 single finds and at least 7760 coins in the hoards). The largest group consists of coins of the 1st - 2nd centuries AD coinage. Most numismatic finds of the 3rd century AD are presented by coins of Asia Minor coinage. Finds of coins of the 4th - first half of 5th centuries AD are uncommon for the region.
List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Distribution map of finds of Roman coins in the forest-steppe of the left bank of the Dnieper: 1 - single finds of coins of 1st - 2nd centuries AD; 2 - single finds of coins of 3rd century AD; 3 - single finds of coins of 4th century AD; 4 - single finds of coins in the first half of 5th century AD; 5 - hoards of Roman coins of 1st - 2nd centuries AD; 6 - hoard from Rublevka of 4th - early 5th centuries AD; 7 - border of Chernyakhov culture in the region; 8 - boundary of the steppe and forest-steppe in the region.
Fig. 2. Distribution map of single finds of coins of 1st - 2nd (1) and 3rd centuries AD (2) in the area of Chernyakhov culture.
Fig. 3. Distribution map of single finds of coins of 4th century AD (1) and the first half of the 5th century AD (2) in the area of Chernyakhov culture.
Fig. 4. Distribution map of hoards of Roman coins in the area of Chernyakhov culture.
Table 1. The ratio of the number of find spots of Roman coins in different forest-steppe regions of the left bank of the Dnieper.
Table 2. Distribution of single finds of Roman coins by periods.
Table 3. Chronological distribution of coin hoards, with complete or relatively complete composition. Table 4. The distribution of single finds of Roman coins at face value.
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.