The exposed object, an "askos" type ceramic vessel, comes from the tumulus necropolis near the village of Ciumai, Taraclia district. The vessel was discovered in 2015 in a cenotaph tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, dated to the early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2600 BC).
The vessel, with an obviously asymmetrical configuration, is hand-moulded from quality clay paste, having a smooth brown surface with gray spots. The body of the vessel is provided with a pronounced protrusion and a truncated neck with a wider opening towards the mouth. The vessel has a stem and is ornamented with three pairs of symmetrically placed relief appliqués. The height of the bowl is 15.5 cm, the diameter of the mouth is 11.4 cm, the diameter of the body is 15 cm and the diameter of the base is 7.5 cm. Such vessels in the archaeological literature are known as "askos" vessels, the respective term being of ancient Greek origin, denoting one of the primitive containers of the period - the bellows made of animal skin.
In prehistoric times, among some peoples, the bellows was transposed into ceramics, in these cases the basic features of the archaic leather vessel were preserved, acquiring a prominent convex shape with a stem and a flat bottom. From the original appearance of the bellows, the asymmetric mouth corresponding to the animal's neck has been preserved, and sometimes three or four legs, corresponding to the appendages of the flayed skin from the animal's legs. These vessels have lost their original zoomorphic character, entering as a new form in the inventory of Neo-Eneolithic ceramics. The first vessels of this type are attested in Greece, in the early Neolithic (ca. 5000-4500 BC) having the shape of cups or cups. In the Neo-Eneolithic Carpatho-Balkan cultures, the type of Aegean askos of short or tall form, with or without legs and with a handle, is found. Less often, they are provided with two mouths (one for filling and one for emptying) or they are off-center and provided with strangely shaped mouths. In the space between the Carpathians and the Dnieper, only tall forms of simple askos, without zoomorphic elements, are known. Askos-type vessels are present in various prehistoric cultures, especially in Southeast Europe and Anatolia.
Being often discovered in association with cult inventory, askos vessels could be an important indicator of use in religious ritual practices. Along with the zoomorphic, anthropomorphic and rhyton-type vessels (roughly conical container from which, in some ceremonies, liquids were drunk or poured), the askos were included in the category of vessels intended for worship, being related to libations (ritual act that consisted of tasting and then pouring a cup of wine, milk, etc. as homage to the deity).
Some aspects regarding exchange of salt in 6th - 2nd millennia BC in the Carpatho-Danubian area
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The article deals with prehistoric salt production and exchange of salt in south-east and east-central Europe. The major points of the article are: 1. the modeling of the traditional forms of salt production and exchange in the area; 2. the identification of archaeological indications specific to every type of salt production and exchange; 3. the classification of available archaeological evidence of prehistoric salt production and exchange in Carpatho-Danubian zone.
Salt had two major senses during prehistoric period: on one hand it was as a good of daily consumption and thrifty use, on the other hand it was the exotic good. Every of these senses implied different types of production and exchange. The daily consumption and thrifty use salt could be made both within domestic and industrial productions. Of these, only industrial one was intended for long-distance exchange of salt. Salt as the exotic good was made only within special i.e. „sacred" type of production. This type of industry produced „miraculous" salt which was mainly, if not exclusively, intended for long-distance exchange.
The available archaeological evidence of salt production in the Carpatho-Danubian area is classified in the article on the above principles (tab. 1). Thus, the Neolithic salt production centers from Subcarpathian Moldavia (Lunca and Ţolici) as well as the Eneolithic one from the same area (Cucuieți) are attributed in the article to the domestic production of salt for daily consumption and thrifty use. The main goal of this type of production was to produce salt for domestic use or/and for short-distance traffic. Neolithic and especially Eneolithic salt production attested at Provadia-Solnitsata (northeast Bulgaria) is classified as industrial one. It produced common salt by evaporation of brine, and its main destination was the long-distance exchange, perhaps to east Balkans and North-Pontic area. The Eneolithic salt production centers from subcarpathian Moldavia (Lunca, Ţolici, Cacica, Solca etc.) produced exotic salt in the form of small cone-shaped cakes by evaporation in small briquetage. It was produced for long-distance exchange. The two Early Bronze Age salt production sites from northern Transylvania (Băile Figa and Săsarm) are classified as the domestic production centers which extracted rock salt for their own use and/or for short-distance traffic.
More attention is paid in the article to the end of Middle and Late Bronze Age (the end of 17th-9th centuries BC) salt mining centers from Transylvania and Maramureș: Băile Figa, Caila, Săsarm, Ocna Dej, Valea Florilor, Valea Regilor (Tisolovo) and Solotvino (Ocna Slatina) (Case Study). By all the available evidence, these centers seem to have been involved in the large-scale salt production and long-distance trade. Blocks of rock salt were traded from these centers to Hungarian Plane, by Someș and Tisa rivers. It is well-known fact that the period of functioning of the above salt mining production centers was the one of widest spread of tin bronze objects in the area. That is why, it seems likely that in exchange of salt its owners get, among other goods, tin.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. The map of the Late Bronze Age salt mining sites: 1 - Caila; 2 - Săsarm; 3 - Băile Figa; 4 - Ocna Dej; 5 - Valea Florilor; 6 - Solotvino (Ocna Slatina); 7 - Valea Regilor (Tisolovo). Fig. 2. Northern Transylvania. Troughs in situ: 1 - Caila; 2, 3 - Băile Figa. Behind the trough at the position 2 the one can observe a ladder. Fig. 3. Băile Figa. One of the troughs (the same at fig. 2/3, the nearest plan). Wood. Fig. 4. Băile Figa. The pegs from the trougs (the troughs at fig. 2). Fig. 5. Băile Figa. One of the troughs (uncovered close to the trough at fig. 2/2). Fig. 6. Băile Figa. The pegs from one of the troughs (the trough at fig. 5). Fig. 7. Băile Figa, the year 2010. The experiment with the trough. Fig. 8. Băile Figa. Mining tools. Stone. Fig. 8. Băile Figa. Tools. Wood. Fig. 10. Băile Figa. The wooden construction for storage of salt (?). Fig. 11. Băile Figa. The parts of wooden constructions for storage of salt (?).
The exposed object, an "askos" type ceramic vessel, comes from the tumulus necropolis near the village of Ciumai, Taraclia district. The vessel was discovered in 2015 in a cenotaph tomb attributed to the Jamnaja culture, dated to the early Bronze Age (ca. 3300-2600 BC)...
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.