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.
School of exact science activity in Chișinău in period of 1873-1918
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
In Russian system of education schools of exact science were founded in 1872 as a result of lyceums of exact science abolition. These lyceums had 6-7 years of schooling. In high schools there were taught applied (sciences) subjects. Senior classes graduates of these educational institutions continued their education at technical, business and industrial high schools (colleges). They could not continue their education at universities. From 1888 schools of exact science were reorganized into comprehensive schools. The graduates could continue their education at universities, but only at the department of mathematics, physics and medicine.
Archive records give us the possibility to follow the school of exact science development in Chișinău from its foundation till the first decade of the 20th century. The school of exact science was opened the 6th of December 1873 in Chișinău. At the moment of its opening the school had three forms (3rd, 4th, 5th). During the following two years there were also opened two senior classes. During the school year of 1885/86, thanks to a tutor’s application of Odessa district of education, there were opened the 1st and the 2nd forms, but in 1888 there was opened the 7th form with technical-mechanic specialization. Besides this class the school of exact science had also the classes of physics, chemistry, metrology, natural sciences, history, geography, etc. Maintenance of this educational institution was realized from money of state budget, of Bessarabian zemstvo, of town council and from money saved up for the process of education (annual payment for the education was 50 rubles, it proves that not all the social classes could afford their children study at these educational institutions). As a result of archive source analysis we can observe that at the moment of these educational institutions opening the contingent of pupils was composed from 101 children, in 1883 – 160 children, and in 1918 – 312 children. Thus we can observe that the number of pupils was always in growth. Although the information concerning the activity of this educational institution, placed in the fund of National Archives of the Republic of Moldova, does not give the possibility to follow the ethnic structure of the pupils’ contingent, researching their religious appearance, however we can observe the predominance of the Orthodox and a number more or less constant (ca 15%) of the Jews (as for example: in 1893, from the total number of 229 pupils, 171 (74,7%) were the Orthodox, 13 (5,7%) – the Catholics, 8 (3,5%) – the Protestants, 3 (1,3%) – belonged to other religious communions and 34 (14,8%) – the Jews), which shows us the diversity of the ethnic colour. The sources of archives analysis allows us to conclude that the biggest part of children that studied at this educational institution were the children of noblemen (the fact that testifies its predominance), of small bourgeoisie (townsmen) and only partially of children that came from the countryside.
Tatiana Chicaroș
Development of secondary education in Bessarabia in 1833-1871
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Tatiana Chicaroș
The role of Bessarabian private schools in the educational system of the Russian Empire in the second half of the 19th - early 20th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Tatiana Chicaroș
From the history of a private school for girls in Bălți
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Tatiana Chicaroș
Legislative basis of secondary education in the Russian Empire in the modern era
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Tatiana Chicaroș
L’évolution de l’enseignement de lycée en Bessarabie sous la domination tsariste (1833-1917)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], 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.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
