EN RO















#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.

Virtual Tour


Publications Journal „Tyragetia"


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

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

Chișinău, 2009

I. Researches


Татьяна И. Демченко
Monuments of the Corjeuți type within the context of the Early Bronze Age History of Eastern and Central Europe

Алла Николова, Юрий Рассамакин
Clay Model of the “Cradle” from Kalanchak town and Some Aspects of the Early-Middle Bronze Age Chronology in the Dnieper-Donetsk Region

Элке Кайзер
Die absolute Datierung der Katakombengrabkultur im Nördlichen Schwarzmeerraum

Valeriu Banaru
Betrachtungen über die Vermittler der Handels- und Austauschbeziehungen zwischen der griechischen Welt und Einheimischen des nordwestlichen Pontos-Raumes auf der Grundlage archäologischer und schriftlicher Quellen des 7.-5. Jh. v. Chr.

II. Papers and surveys


Николай К. Анисюткин
The stone industry particularities of the 3a layer from Trinca 1 grotto

Sergiu-Constantin Enea
Some observations on the Neolithic and Aeneolithic ornaments in the Romanian area

Анна Никулицэ
Golden and silver adornment objects discovered at the Aeneolithic and Bronze Age monuments (on the materials from the NMAHM collections

Eugen Sava, Mariana Sîrbu
The „ashpit” settlements in the basin of Răut (Catalog)

Ion Niculiță, Andrei Nicic, Andrei Corobcean
The results of the archaeological investigations at the civil settlement Saharna „Dealul Mănăstirii” (2008 campaign)

Florea Costea, Lucia Savu, Angelica Bălos
A „fibula” with cultural valences found at Ormeniș-„Tipia Ormenișului”, Brașov county

Viorel Stoian
One possible magic kit from first iron age discovered in Braila’s plain

Сергей Фидельский
Burial of the Early Iron Age near Slobodzeja at the lower bottom of the river Dniester

Ion Tentiuc, Alexandru Levinschi
Archaeological researches from Buzduganii de Jos in the Ţuțora Valley conducted in 2008. Preliminary research results

Natalia Mateevici
Some changes in the chronology of the Rhodos amphorae seals discovered in the barbarian surroundings of the Northwestern Pontic space

Marek Żyromski
The patterns of promotion within the roman army and administration – patronage versus experience and specialization

Mateusz Żmudziński
Trade contacts of Roman Dacia

Ana Voloșciuc-Bîtcă
Certaines considerations concernant le latin de Dacie

Petre Mocanu
The crypt and church from Niculițel – symbols of Christian presence to the north of Balkans

Theodor Isvoranu, Mircea Dabîca
A gold coin from the 5th century A.D. discovered at Histria

Иван Власенко, Вячеслав М. Бикбаев
An medieval grave near the village Hîrtopul Mare

Valeriu Bubulici, Ion Tentiuc
Some monetary discoveries in the cemetery of the Assumption Church from Căușeni

Ion Tentiuc
Les carreaux des poêles avec l’images heraldiques de Căușeni

Ana Boldureanu
The chronicle of monetary discoveries (III)

Sergiu Musteață
Ethics and Professional Deontology in Archaeology

III. Paper and book review


Valeriu Banaru
Natalia Mateevici, Amforele grecești în mediul barbar din nord-vestul Pontului Euxin în sec. VI - începutul sec. II a. Chr. Chișinău, 2007. 284 p. + 353 estampaje, 37 fi guri și 18 hărți. ISBN 978-9975-80-080-8

Sergiu Musteață
Florin Curta, (Ed.), The Other Europe in the Middle Ages. Avars, Bulgars, Khazars and Cumans, Florin Curta, General Editor, East Central and Eastern Europe in the Middle Ages, 450-1450, volume 2, Leiden/Boston: BRILL, 2008, ISSN 1872-8103, ISBN 978 90 04 16389 8

Andrei Eșanu
Gheorghe Postică, Civilizația medievală timpurie din spațiul pruto-nistrean (sec. V-XIII). Cuvânt-înainte de Victor Spinei, București, Editura Academiei Române, 2007, 487 p.

IV. Homage


Aurel Zanoci, Tudor Arnăut
Profesorul Ion Niculiță la 70 de ani

Nikolaus Boroffka
Dr. Tudor Soroceanu la 65 de ani




 

 

Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
September 25, 2025 – September 1, 2026
 
Over 2500 pieces made of precious metals with historic, artistic and symbolic value
  

Come to Museum! Discover the History!
  
Visit museum
Visit museum
Summer schedule: daily
10am – 6pm.

Winter schedule: daily
10am – 5pm.
Closed on Mondays.
Entrance fees:  adults - 50 MDL, Pensioners, students - 20 lei, pupils - 10 MDL. Free access: enlisted men (...)

WiFi Free Wi-Fi Zone in the museum: In the courtyard of the National History Museum of Moldova there is Wi-Fi Internet access for visitors.


#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...

Read More >>

































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