#Exhibit of the Month

The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector.
The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west.

The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm.
Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements.
The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).

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Publications

Library „Tyragetia"

Natalia Mateevici

Greek Amphorae in Barbaric World of North-Western Coast of Pontus Euxinus in 6th – Early 2nd Centuries B.C.

Series “Biblioteca “Tyragetia” XIV, Chisinau, 2007, 284 p. ISBN 978-9975-80-080-8.

The given monographic study is the first synthesis work on the development of trade relations between the ancient Greek civilization and the indigenous tribes of the area between the Eastern Carpathians and the Southern Bug.
The work is focused on study and research of a single category of artifacts of Greek imports – amphorae, the special vessels for storage and transport of liquids, especially wine and olive oil, the main categories of Greek-barbarian trade. Being also the largest category of Greek imports in the barbarian world, amphorae accurately reflect all stages of development of Greek-barbarian trade in ancient times.

In the paper there was studied and published amphora material from the collections of institutions from three countries: the Republic of Moldova, Romania, and Ukraine.

Using an impressive number of original sources makes this work an exhaustive, thereby raising its value to science.
Study of Greek amphorae and their spreading in the barbaric world enables researchers to keep a relatively accurate dating of archaeological sites of the natives of the north-western Black Sea area.

The text of the work is complemented with a great number of illustrations which include images of the vessels themselves and 18 maps. There is also the first catalog of Greek amphora stamps found in this area that was compiled by the author and contains about 370 stamps.