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 historiographic aspects regarding the commercial activity of Genoese east of Carpathians and Danube mouth (end of 13th- first half of 14th centuries)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
The activity of Romanian and occidental historians, who had greatly contributed to the enlargement of the documentary base regarding the activity of Genoese east of Carpathians, enabled the reconstruction and analysis of materials which have been included into the scientific circuit in the last decades. The researchers have reached the conclusion that for a certain period of time the east-Carpathian space and the territory north of Danube mouth was indisputably connected with the evolution of big oriental empires - the Byzantine Empire and the Golden Hoard.
The Genoese colonies from the mouth of Danube and Lower Dniester worked as intermediaries of maritime and terrestrial commerce, connecting the Occident with the Orient, among which were – Chilia, Vicina, Licostomo Cetatea Albă etc, which by their vicinity accelerated the social-economical evolution of east-Carpathian region, stimulating the political processes of local Romanian communities at the end of 13th - first half of 14th centuries.
Silvia Barcari
Some considerations about the location of Vicina (the late 13th - the 1st half of the 14th centuries) reflected in the Romanian historiography
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Silvia Barcari
Historiographical reflections on local and transit trade relations on the Prut-Dniester area and the Lower Danube (late 13th - 14th century
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], 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.