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#Exhibit of the Month

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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.

Virtual Tour


Publications Journal „Tyragetia"


Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

Chișinău, 2008

I. Researches


Ilie Borziac, Vasile Chirica
The Upper Paleolithic from the region between Carpathians and Dniester: cronostratigraphic and culturogenetic aspects

Maja Kașuba
Materialien der Şoldănești-Kultur im Mitteldnestrgebiet – der vorläufige Überblick

Ion Niculiță, Aurel Zanoci, Tudor Arnăut
Surface structures from the settlements near by Saharna village

Valeriu Banaru
Zur Verzierung rotfiguriger Keramik aus dem Norden und Nordwesten des Pontos Euxeinos

Ion Eremia
The ancient nation – origins, essence and its importance

Gheorghe Postică
The early medieval spirituality in the Prut-Nistru space

Marius Alexianu, Olivier Weller, Robin Brigand, Roxana-Gabriela Curcă
Recherches ethnoarchéologiques sur les sources salées de la Moldavie précarpatique

II. Papers and surveys


Светлана И. Медяник
Vegetation of the late palaeolithic in Moldova by palynological data from archaelogical sites and grottos

Татьяна И. Демченко
Toward the definition of the Edinets archaeological group

Ion Niculiță, Andrei Nicic
Early Iron Age settlement of Saharna-Ţiglău. Preliminary research results

Alexandru Levinschi
Considerations regarding the Getian necropolis from Danceni

Jerzy Hatłas
The tracian tumulus at Opalchenetz – 80 years later (Some remarks on the question of rich female tombs in ancient Thrace)

Natalia Mateevici, Evgeniya Redina
The collection of Heraclian stamps from the site of Košary, Odessa region, Ukraine

Aurel Zanoci, Mihail Băț
Archeological researches conducted in 2007 at the Thracian-Getian settlement of Saharna „La Şanț”

Florea Costea, Lucia Savu, Angelica Bălos
Part of a Roman helmet discovered in the Dacian castle from Racoș-Piatra Detunată, Brașov county

Alexander Falileyev
Two more (possibly) Celtic names from Roman Dacia

Roxana-Gabriela Curcă
Les agnomina dans les inscriptions grecques de Tomi

Marek Żyromski
The army as an important factor of social mobility in Roman Empire

Nelu Zugravu
Nota sul vescovo „scito” partecipante al concilio di Nicaea (325)

Natalia Chișcă
Typology sources of Christian Iconography

Екатерина Абызова, Светлана Рябцева
Medieval belt and bag fitting finds from Echimauti site of ancient settlement

Иван Власенко
Late residential compounds of the early medieval settlement Rudi

Ion Tentiuc, Valeriu Bubulici, Serghei Agulnicov
The Giurgiulești earthen fortress. Preliminary research results

Ana Boldureanu
Numismatic chronicle (II)

Iulia Postică
Legislative aspects regarding the protection of the archaeological heritage in the Republic of Moldova (1945-2007)

Sergiu Musteață
Preservation of the historic heritage in USA

III. Paper and book review


Nikolaus Boroffka
Valentin Dergačev, Die äneolitischen und bronzezeitlichen Metallfunde aus Moldavien. Prähistorische Bronzefunde Abteilung XX, Band 9. Franz Steiner Verlag, Stuttgart 2002, 251 pagini, 134 planșe. ISBN 3-515-07665-4

Valeriu Banaru
Piese arheologice din colecțiile Muzeului Național de Arheologie și Istorie a Moldovei într-o expoziție din Republica Federală Germania. Attila und die Hunnen – Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung (Attila și hunii – ghidul expoziției). Hrsg. vom Historischen Museum der Pfalz, Speyer. Konrad Theiss Verlag: Stuttgart, 2007. 388 p. + 470 imagini color. ISBN 978-3-8062-2114-5

Ion Tentiuc
Sergiu Musteață, Populația spațiului pruto-nistrean în secolele VIII-IX. Editura Pontos, Chișinău 2005, 189 p., rezumat în limba engleză, indice, 10 tabele, 7 diagrame, 4 hărți, 78 planșe cu figuri, 12 foto, ISBN 9975-926-43-6

IV. In memoriam


Tudor Arnăut
In memoriam professoris Constantini Predae

 



 

 

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#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...

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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.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



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.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

menu
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.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC