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.
Some aspects of the problem of reflection of ethnic distinctions in stylistic variations of artefacts
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
In the article the basic tendencies of ethnic interpretation of a stylistic variation in the archaeological record are stated. Despite the sceptical discussions of this question, ethnic interpretation remains one of the basic directions in archeology. Criticising the unilateral and tendentious character of the approach of G. Kossina in ethnic interpretation of artefacts, some researchers have accepted attempts to formulate a number of complex approaches among which the ethnoarchaeological studies play an important role. Ethnoarcheology, in some cases, confirms a parity of ethnic borders with material culture, in others this is not so. At the same time, the majority of researchers consider that the given parity should be observed in stylistic, instead of in typological distinctions. Unfortunately, the “stylistic” approach is also far from the decision of these interpretative archeological problems. Ethnic reconstructions demand more complex schemes, taking into account known factors and the contexts reflected, not only in an archaeological material. The contextual-historical approach was put forward in the first half of the last century, but, owing to its complexity, has not given exhaustive results. Probably, its synchronic-diachronic application to more limited archaeological areas will bring fruitful results. In this case, style and stylistic variations should play a key role.
Ion Niculiță, Andrei Nicic, Andrei Corobcean
The results of the archaeological investigations at the civil settlement Saharna „Dealul Mănăstirii” (2008 campaign)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Andrei Corobcean
Archaeological vestiges of the 5th-3rd centuries BC in the Carpathian-Dniester region as a source of ethnic interpretation. Historiographical issues
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], 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.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
