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.
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
The study is focused on the issue of trade with salt in Bessarabia, from the annexation of the province, by the Peace of Bucharest of May 16/28, 1812, and until the saline lakes in southern Bessarabia flooding in 1850. Broadly speaking it is a well studied problem in the historiography of the MSSR and Republic of Moldova. Despite this, we found it necessary to come up with new archival documentary data, to make some additions on less developed issues.
The scientific novelty of the study is given by the approach to the examination of the issue. This particularly approach has several important research goals. First, note that the salt trade in the Russian Empire in the set out period represented a state monopoly. Russian state typically granted the right of extraction and marketing of salt to different persons. Secondly, the issue of salt trade in Bessarabia is closely linked to the problem of protectionist policy of the Russian Empire towards the newly annexed province. Russian government’s tendency to protect producers of salt form the Crimea, by the ban imposed on export of salt from Bessarabia, did not suite the dealers of salt extraction from the province. The antagonism of the situation is relevant in understanding the issues related to the inclusion of Bessarabia into the economical system of the Russian Empire.
Another goal of our approach to the research of trade salt in Bessarabia is related to suppression of customs and sanitary cordon on Dniester River by the Regulation of 26 September 1830. In return, the Russian government established in the province a Department of salines, in order to assert its control over the export of salt and thus continued its policy of disadvantaging producers of salt in Bessarabia for the benefit of those from Crimea. This was despite the fact that the province was de jure included in socio-political and economic system of the Russian Empire after the withdrawn of last levers of autonomy by the Establishment of administration of 1828.
Andrei Emilciuc
Fishing tax-farming in state owned waters of Bessarabia (1812-1869)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIX [XXXIV], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie, Chişinău, 2025
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
Western European dictionaries and encyclopedias from the collections of the National Museum of History of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
Commercial navigation on the Dniester River (1812-1853)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Andrei Emilciuc
Entrepreneurial transhumance in Bessarabia (1812-1853)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], 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.