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.
Social symbols in the Bronze Age. Antler and bone scepters
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The present study discusses the antler and bone scepters specifi c for the Romanian Bronze Age. This type of objects have been found since the Neolithic period, they are frequently encountered during the Bronze Age and rarely discovered in the first period of the Iron Age.
The majority of the pieces are made of antler and only a couple of them are made of bone. Some of the pieces, beautifully decorated have a central perforation in order to fi x it in a wooden handle. Concerning the archaeological context of the fi ndings, the majority of the objects were discovered inside the settlements and only one piece is part of the inventory of a tomb.
The antler and bone scepters have been discovered in different archaeological cultures since the Early Bronze Age, but the majority of the pieces are attributed to the Middle Bronze Age (the Monteoru, Wietenberg, Costișa, Otomani, Verbicioara cultures). For the Late Bronze Age we only know one item. The signification of such items is primarily related to the social symbolism, but they can also be interpreted as cult objects in the case of their utilization during religious rituals.
List of illustrations:
Fig. 1. Dissemination of the antler and bone scepters in România: 1 - Boarta; 2 - Bodeștii de Jos; 3 - Cicău; 4 - Lancrăm; 5 - Oradea; 6 - Racoș; 7 - Sărata Monteoru; 8 - Sibișeni; 9 - Ulmu; 10 - Verbicioara. Fig. 2. Antler fragments utilized as support for the manufacture of the scepters. Fig. 3. Tomb 71 from the necropolis no. 4 in Sărata Monteoru (after Bârzu 1989). Fig. 4. Antler scepters: 1 - Boarta (after Popa, Ștefu 2009); 2 - Lancrăm (after Aldea 1973). Fig. 5. Antler and bone scepters: 1 - Verbicioara (after Berciu, Morintz, Maximilian 1957); 2 - Sărata Monteoru (after Bârzu 1989); 3 - Ulmu (after Florescu 1991); 4 - Racoș (after Costea, Ștefănescu 2003); 5 - Cicău (after Winkler, Takács 1980); 6 - Oradea (after Fazecaș 2005); 7 - Bodeștii de Jos (after Munteanu 2010). Fig. 6. Reconstitution of a scepter (drawing D. G. Spatariu).
Vasile Diaconu, Bogdan-Petru Niculică
Stone scepters belonging to the Bronze Age, discovered in Suceava County
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Diaconu
Bogdan Petru Niculică, Epoca bronzului în Podișul Sucevei, Suceava: Editura Karl A. Romstorfer, 2015, 622 p. ISBN 978-606-8698-06-9
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Diaconu, Mariana Sîrbu
Uncommon practice of re-use of Bronze Age stone axes
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XII [XXVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Diaconu
In memoriam Gheorghe Dumitroaia (23.04.1949-6.04.2016)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Simina Margareta Stanc, Vasile Diaconu, Luminiţa Bejenaru
Animal Resources in the Economy of the Noua Culture (Bronze Age) Communities: case study on the settlement at Crasnaleuca (Botosani County, Romania)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XII [XXVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
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.