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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. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

Chișinău, 2014

I. Researches


Денис Топал
Akinakai on the western frontiers of Scythia. Scythian swords and daggers from the territory of the Republic of Moldova

Gheorghe Postică, Ion Tentiuc
Early medieval bronze amulets representing horsemen from the Carpathian-Dniester region

II. Papers and surveys


Дмитрий Киосак, Игорь Бруяко, Владимир Денисюк
The complex of archaeological sites “Kamyane-Zavallia” in the Middle Bug River valley: investigations in 2011-2012

Robin Brigand, Andrei Asăndulesei, Ionuț Nicu Cristi
Autour de la station éponyme de Cucuteni: paysage et peuplement (Valea Oii, Iași, Roumanie)

Михаил Видейко, Джон Чапмен, Наталья Бурдо, Биссерка Гейдарская, Стоилка Игнатова, Светлана Иванова, Виталий Рудь
Research project "Early urbanism in prehistoric Europe: the case of the Trypillian mega-sites" in 2013

Nicolae Ursulescu
Some observations on the Cucuteni-Tripolye stone figurines

Stanislav Țerna
Late Tripolian settlement near the village of Volovița (Soroca District, Republic of Moldova)

Vasile Diaconu
Social symbols in the Bronze Age. Antler and bone scepters

Mariana Sîrbu
Bronze objects found in the settlements of Noua-Sabatinovka type in the Prut-Dniester area

Serghei Agulnicov, Eugen Mistreanu, Sergiu Popovici
Tumuli (kurgans) from Brînzenii Noi and Rogojeni (Rescue Archaeological Research 2013)

Сергей Фидельский
Dwellings of the Chernoles culture in the forest-steppe between the Dniester and Dnieper Rivers (analysis, typology and comparative analysis)

Ion Niculiță, Aurel Zanoci, Mihail Băț
Geospatial and archaeological research in the micro-zone of Horodiște-Tipova

Станислав Задников
Complex of antique amphorae of the 1st half of the 6th century BC from the pit no. 11 of the “ashpit” no. 13 of the Western Bilsk Fortification

Natalia Mateevici, Mihai Ionescu
New collection of ceramic amphora stamps from the center of the ancient Callatis

Andrei Corobcean
Archaeological vestiges of the 5th-3rd centuries BC in the Carpathian-Dniester region as a source of ethnic interpretation. Historiographical issues

Николай Тельнов, Виталий Синика
Bowls from the Scythian burial sites of the late 4th - 2nd century BC on the left bank of the Lower Dniester

Aydogdy Kurbanov
The Hephthalites: iconographical materials

Octavian Munteanu, Ion Tentiuc
A house of the 15th century explored in the fortified settlement of Horodca Mică

Gheorghe Postică
Die Perlenmosaik mit Miniaturporträts des römischen Kaisers Konstantin der Große, Constantinus II und Constantius II aus Bursuceni, Republik Moldau

Ana Boldureanu
Chronicle of monetary findings (VIII)

III. Paper and book review


Vitalie Josanu
Ion Tentiuc, Contribuții la istoria și arheologia spațiului pruto-nistrean. Siturile de la Durlești și Molești, Chișinău, 2012, 288 p. ISBN 978-9975-80-667-1

Ion Eremia
Lia Bătrâna, Adrian Bătrâna, Biserica „Sfântul Nicolae" din Rădăuți. Cercetări arheologice și interpretări istorice asupra începuturilor Ţării Moldovei, Editor: Gheorghe Dumitroaia, Piatra Neamț: Editura Constantin Matasă, 2012, 518 p. ISBN 978-973-7

IV. Homage


Ion Tentiuc
Profesorul, savantul și omul de cultură Gheorghe Postică la 60 de ani

 



 

 

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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