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.
Octavian Munteanu, Vasile Iarmulschi, Veronica Perju, Livia Ermurachi
The first building-phase of the fortification at Horodca Mică
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
During four years time (2006-2009) regular investigations were undertaken in the area covered by the defensive line at Horodca Mică. We would like to emphasize that our field observations suggest the existence of several stages of fortification of the same space and what is visible today in the form of a hill of impressive dimensions, preceded by an adjacent ditch, are only ruins of the final phase of this defensive system. Since the stratigraphic picture is too complex to be present in its entire form (even preliminarily), we decided to focus on some particular aspects which can be introduced to an academic audience with sufficient confidence. Therefore we only focused on the first stage of fortification of the promontory of Horodca Mică.
To prove out point we present, primarily, a number of objective observations registered on the ground. Secondly, we explain our vision about how the defensive system was built in the first phase. Finally, we will analyze the techniques and materials used in constructions and their existing analogies, the available chronological markers, and the fate the fortification had.
In conclusion, we affirm that a complex defensive system was arranged in this space. The construction was based on a wooden case extended over 4.3 meters, and was filled up with soil that was excavated from its front. This formed a ditch measuring 7.8 meters at the opening and of 2.7 meters at its maximum depth. It should be noted that the ditch was at 3.7 meters distance from the limit of construction, forming in this way the traditional berm for such defensive systems. Similar edifices could be reported in the eastern Carpathian area and neighboring areas during the whole Latène period.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. Horodca Mică: 1 - Horodca Site location; 2 - topographic sketch of sections location drown in 2006-2009 years. Fig. 2. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1 in the area of I phase of fortification. Plan and profile. Fig. 3. Horodca Mică 2009. Plan and profiles of the complexes from section nr. 1. Fig. 4. Horodca Mică. Sight of the fortified enclosure: 1 - Southern view; 2 - Western view. Fig. 5. Horodca Mică. Sight of the bastion: 1 - Southern view; 2 - Western view. Fig. 6. Horodca Mică: 1 - sequence of research process of defensive system; 2 - Southern view of the section nr. 1 after releasing the beginning few layers. Fig. 7. Horodca Mică. Sight of the fortification: 1 - Northerly view; 2 - Southern view. Fig. 8. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1. Sight of the West profile ith delimitation of the various phases of construction. Fig. 9. Horodca Mică. The West profile of the section nr 1 with traces of defensive, I phase construction. Fig. 10. Horodca Mică: 1 - sight of the burnt, clay concentration; 2 - view of the coal strip detected under agglomeration of soldering. Fig. 11. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1: 1 - sight of the West profile in the area of the ruins of the I phase construction; 2 - the agglomeration of soldering and wood coal. Fig. 12. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1: 1 - delimitation of the ground lenses between I phase of the constructions damage and II phase; 2 - the I phase ditch in the investigations process. Fig. 13. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1: 1 - the plan of the complexes nr. 26 and nr. 27 from Southern extreme of the I phase; 2 - The section of the complexes nr. 26 and nr. 27. Fig. 14. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1. Sight of the ditch were was identified complexes nr. 44 and 46: 1 - a general view; 2 - sight of the Eastern view; 3 - sight of the Western view. Fig. 15. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1: 1 - sight of the complex nr 46 in the discovery phase; 2 - sight of the discovered complex nr. 46 and complex nr. 44 in the investigations process; 3 - sight of the complexes nr. 46 and 44. Fig. 16. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1. Sight of the discovery phase of complexes nr. 28 and nr. 29: 1 - a general view of the both complexes; 2 - complex nr. 28; 3 - complex nr. 29. Fig. 17. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1. Complexes nr. 28 and nr. 29: investigations process. Fig. 18. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1. Sight of the research phase of complexes nr. 28 and. 29: 1 - complex nr. 28; 2 - complex nr. 29.
Fig. 19. Horodca Mică. Section nr. 1. Sight of the complexes from A3 and A4 squares.
Vasile Iarmulschi
Einige Überlegungen bezüglich der Chronologie und Periodisierung der Poienești-Lucașeuca-Kultur
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Iarmulschi
Nochmals zum Beginn der Poieneşti-Lucaşeuca-Kultur
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XIV [XXIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2020
Octavian Munteanu
Les etapes d’édification de la fortification de Horodca Mică
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VII [XXII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Vasile Iarmulschi
Migration von West nach Ost: Archäologie der Mobilität in der jüngeren vorrömischen Eisenzeit: Beispiel die Zarubintsy-Kultur
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2021
Vasile Iarmulschi
Michał Grygiel, Chronologia przemian kultorowych w dobie przełomu starzego i młodzego okresu przedrzymskiego na Niżu Polskim. Łódź: Fundacja Badań Archeologicznych Imienia Profesora Konrada Jażdżewskiego, 2018, 822 p., ISBN: 978-83-948140-2-1
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XV [XXX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică, Chişinău, 2021
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.