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.
Établissements cucuteniens dans l’espace d’entre Prut et Dniestre (étape Cucuteni A- Tripolie BI). Aspects de l’histoire de la recherche
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Pour la mésopotamie d'entre Prut et Nistru on connait 99 points encadrées dans la prémiere phase de développement, l'étape Cucuteni A. De ce nombre, seulement 14 ont déjà été étudiés. Les premières investigations dans un établissement cucutenien dans l'interfluve Prut-Dniestr ont été organisée en 1893 à Şipeniț, Bucovine et ils continuent, avec quelques interruptions, jusqu'à nos jours.
Dans les stations où des fouilles considérables ont été déployés ont été identifiées des fortifications.
Il s'agit des restes d'établissements situées dans des lieus naturellement fortifiées, traces des logements enterées or construites sur la surface.
L'habitat cucutenien de l'étape A du territoire de la Moldavie, sous tous ses aspects, s'intègre parfaitement équilibré dans la complex Ariusd-Cucuteni-Tripolye, apportant une note personnelle et spécifique à cette grande civilisation.
Liste des illustrations:
Fig. 1. Carte d'établissements de l'étape Cucuteni A.
Fig. 2. Cuconeștii Vechi I. L'emplacement du site et les section d'investigation.
Fig. 3. Jora de Sus. L'emplacement du site et les section d'investigation.
Fig. 4. Brânzeni. L'emplacement du site et les section d'investigation.
Fig. 5. Druța I. L'emplacement du site et les section d'investigation.
Fig. 6. Putinești. L'emplacement du site.
Fig. 7. Putinești III. Plan d'organisation des habitations.
Ion Tentiuc, Mariana Vasilache
On the question of archaeological sites in Chișinău (Catalogue of archaeological sites)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Mariana Vasilache
Cornelia Magda Lazarovici, Gheorghe Lazarovici, Arhitectura neoliticului și epocii cuprului din România. I. Neoliticul, II. Epoca cuprului, Iași: Editura Trinitas, 2006, Vol. I - 734 p. ISBN 978-973-7834-7; 2007, Vol. II - 524 p. ISBN 978-973-7834-74-4
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. V [XX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici, Mariana Vasilache, Livia Sîrbu
The results of archaeological research in the Mazarache Church of Chișinău in 2010
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VI [XXI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Stanislav Țerna, Mariana Vasilache
Anthropomorphic fi gurines of the Cucuteni A stage from Duruitoarea Veche I (Râșcani District, Republic of Moldova)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IX [XXIV], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică Chișinău, 2015
Regina Uhl, Mariana Vasilache-Curoșu, Veaceslav Bicbaev, Mariana Sîrbu, Livia Sîrbu
Bericht über die archäologischen Arbeiten in Petreni, Republik Moldau
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. X [XXV], 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.