#Exhibit of the Month

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.

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Journal „Tyragetia"

vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1

Stone objects found in the settlements of Noua-Sabatinovka cultures in the Prut-Dniester area

ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Mariana Sîrbu

Stone objects found in the settlements of Noua-Sabatinovka cultures in the Prut-Dniester area

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

As a result of archaeological research, which are carried out from 1950s to the present in the Prut-Dniester area, in the settlements, as well as through random findings, it was found about 412 artifacts of stone (scrapers, fragments of mills, discs, polishers, casting moulds, axes, etc.) and 129 ones of flint (hammerstones, knives, arrowheads, blades) relating to the Noua-Sabatinovka type. The article presents the categories of lithic objects and attempts to clarify their attribution.

List of illustrations:

Fig. 1. Stone scrapers: 1, 2, 7, 8 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Sava, Kaiser 2004, fig. 16/7, 63/2; Sava 2008, fig. 16/7, 24/5); 3, 4 - Căușeni (after Левинский 1986, рис. 8/1, 3); 5 - Petrușeni (after Sava 1992, fig. 6/1); 6 - Cobâlea (after Левицкий 1988, рис. 28/1).

Fig. 2. Grinders: 1, 2, 4 - Cobâlea (after Левицкий 1988, рис. 20/4, 23/3, 28/2); Petrușeni (after Sava 1992, рис. 6/4).

Fig. 3. Stone polishers: 1, 3, 6, 7 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 88/5, 6, 9, 13); 2 - Hansca (after Postică, Cavruc 1991, fig. 7/8); 4 - Čortovec' (after Крушельницька 2006, рис. 17/9). Grindstone: 5 - Petrușeni (After Sava 1992, fig. 6/5).

Fig. 4. Stone disks: 1-4 - Slobozia-Şireuți; 5, 6 - Cuconești; 7 - Fetești (after Ларина 1976, рис. 6/3); 8 - Odaia- Miciurin (after Sava 2008, fig. 36/9).

Fig. 5. Polishers: 1-5, 7, 10, 11 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 87/3-6, 9, 13); 6 - Nisporeni; 8 - Căușeni (after Левинский 1986, рис. 8/2); 9 - Cobâlea (after Левицкий 1988, рис. 18/6); 12 - Ghindești (after Мелюкова 1958, табл. XXVI/8). Hammerstones: 10, 14 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 87/14, 15); 13 - Ghindești (after Мелюкова 1957, табл. XIX/5); 15 - Novoselicja (after Тощев, Черняков 1986, рис. 6/11).

Fig. 6. Hoe: 1 - Slobozia-Şireuți (after Дергачев 1969, табл. III/26). Stone axes: 2 - Petrușeni (after Sava 1992, fig. 9/3); 3 - Ghindești (after Мелюкова 1957, табл. XIX/4); 4 - Mahala (after Смирнова 1972, рис. 6/11); 5 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 88/1); 6 - Slobozia-Şireuți; 7 - Căușeni (after Левинский 1986, рис. 7/1). Stone maces: 8, 10, 11 - Slobozia-Şireuți; 9 - Ghindești (after Мелюкова 1957, табл. XIX/3).

Fig. 7. Stone casting moulds: 1 - Cobâlea (after Левицкий 1988, рис. 27/1); 2, 6 - Ostrivec' (after Археология 1985, рис. 131/32, 36); 3, 8 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 88/2, 4); 4, 5 - Bălănești (after Sava 2011, Abb. 5/1, 6/1); 7 - Mahala (after Смирнова 1972, 24, рис. 9/1).

Fig. 8. Pestles/scepters: 1, 3, 6 - Chiperceni (after Савва 1987, рис. 2/9, 14, 3/9); 2 - Petreni (after Савва 1987, 64, рис. 2/4); 4 - Ghindești (after Мелюкова 1958, табл. XXVI/7); 7 - Stecivka (after Крушельницька 2006, рис. 13/6); 8 - Bahu (after Дергачев 2012, илл. II/35); 9, 10 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 87/11, 12). Stone pounder: 5 - Basarabeasca (after Савва 1987, рис. 2/24).

Fig. 9. Flint blades: 1, 6 - Cobâlea (after Левицкий 1988, рис. 4/7, 16/11); 2 - Slobozia-Şireuți; 3 - Petrușeni (after Левицкий 1985, рис. 16/12); 4 - Căușeni (after Левинский 1986, рис. 7/3); 5, 7-10 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 90/2, 4, 7-9). Flint arrowheads: 11, 12 - Cobâlea (after Левицкий 1988, рис. 4/3, 17/1); 13 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 90/1). Flint knives: 8, 10 - Petrușeni (after Левицкий 1985, рис. 15/21, 22); 9 - Slobozia-Şireuți (after Дергачев 1969, 121, табл. III/28). Flint hammerstones: 17, 19 - Petrușeni (after Sava 1992, fig. 9/4, 7); 18-21 - Slobozia-Şireuți; 22 - Odaia-Miciurin (after Сава, Кайзер 2011, рис. 89/1); 23 - Čortovec' (after Крушельницька 2006, 40, рис. 17/6).

Fig. 10. Stone and flint tools found in the area of the Noua-Sabatinovka cultural complex on the territory of Ukraine to the east of the Dniester and in Romania: 1, 2 - knives; 3, 4 - arrowheads; 5 - flint blade; 6, 7 - polishers; 8 - hammerstone; 9 - disk; 10, 15 - hoes; 11-13 - pestles / scepters; 14 - grindstone; 16 - pounder; 17 - casting mould; 18 - mace; 19, 22 - polishers; 20, 21 - axes. 1 - Trușești; 2 - Probota; 3, 4, 19 - Gârbovăț; 5, 14 - Dorobanțu; 6, 7, 13, 18 - Zlatopol; 8-10 - Novokievka; 11 - Voinești; 12, 15 - Sergeevskij Zaliv; 16 - Uškalka; 17 - Nicoleni; 20-22 - Tăvădărăști. 1-5, 11, 14, 17, 19-22 (after Florescu 1991, fig. 113/4; 158/5, 6; 159/6; 162/2, 5; 163/3, 8, 10; 164/2, 8); 6-10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 18 (after Gerškovič 1999, Taf. 9/10, 12; 10/2; 35/4, 9, 10; 45/8, 10).

Fig. 11. Stone and flint tools found in other cultures synchronous or partially synchronous to the Noua-Sabatinovka cultural complex. Cultures: Komarovo (1, 2, 10, 11, 13), Gava-Holigrady (4, 9), Belogrudovka (3, 5, 6, 12, 14), Belozerka (7, 8, 16), Srubna (15, 17). 1-5 - knives; 6 - arrowhead; 7 - pestle / scepter; 8, 9 - grindstones; 10, 11 - polishers; 12 - mace; 13 - spindle whorl; 14-16 - casting moulds; 17 - grinder. 1, 2, 10, 11 - Coteala; 3 - Kirovo; 4, 9, 13 - Miškovič; 5 - Belogrudovskij Les; 6, 14 - Sobkovka; 7 - Uškalka; 8 - Zapovitne; 12 - Andrusovka; 15 - Pilipčatino; 16 - Zavadovka; 17 - Iličovka. 1, 2, 10, 11 (after Sava 1994, fig. 3/19, 20, 30, 33); 3, 5-8, 12, 14-17 (after Археология 1985, рис. 112/40; 127/1, 20; 136/1, 4, 5, 7; 142/19, 44, 52); 4, 9, 13 (after Малеев 1976, рис. 2/7, 10, 11).

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

Eugen Sava, Mariana Sîrbu

The „ashpit” settlements in the basin of Răut (Catalog)

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

Mariana Sîrbu, Stanislav Țerna

Stolniceni II – a new settlement with “ash lenses” discovered in the northern zone of the Republic of Moldova

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

Mariana Sîrbu

Material culture of the Noua-Sabatinovka type settlements investigated on the territory of the Republic of Moldova (Catalog)

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIX [XXXIV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2025