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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




Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł’s private life in documents, letters, and images

Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł’s private life in documents, letters, and images

Biblioteca „Tyragetia” XXXIII, Chişinău, 2020, 231 p. ISBN 978-9975-80-903-0; 978-9975-87-753-4.

The study is based on research conducted in the archives of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia, which resulted in the discovery of unique documents and letters related to the private life of Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł and her family members in Poland (Radziwiłł, Potocki, Movilă) and in Moldova (Vasile Lupu, Catherine the Circassian, Ruxandra, Timuş, Ştefanel). The monograph is part of the series "Women's History" which comprises multifaceted studies of the role of women in world history in the light of new methodological approaches of historical anthropology. For the first time, some documents are introduced into the scientific historical use, showing that the image of Mary (Lupu) Radziwiłł in historical literature was largely underestimated. The publication of the volume in two languages (Romanian and English) will ensure its wide circulation among foreign readers. The study is accompanied by extensive illustrative material from foreign museum collections.

CONTENTS

Introduction
I. PAGES FROM THE PRIVATE LIFE OF MARIA (LUPU) RADZIWIŁŁ

I.1. Origin and family
I.2. Betrothal
I.3. Marriage. Wedding


II. FAMILY LIFE OF MARIA (LUPU) RADZIWIŁŁ IN THE POLISH-LITHUANIAN COMMONWEALTH

II.1. Arrival in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Panegyric in honor of young married people
II.2. Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł's social and property status
II.3. Familly life. Patronage of churches and monasteries
II.4. Family status of Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł. Economic and household activities
II.5. Patronage in the field of education

III. YEARS OF WIDOWHOOD OF MARIA (LUPU) RADZIWIŁŁ

III.1. Widowhood
III.2. Struggle for the inheritance

IV. FROM THE HISTORY OF THE LAST WILL OF MARIA (LUPU) RADZIWIŁŁ

IV.1. Last years of her life
IV.2. The will

V. THE IMAGE OF MARIA (LUPU) RADZIWIŁŁ IN FINE ARTS OBJECTS

V.1. The enigma of a portrait: Maria Vladimirovna Staritskaya or Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł?
V.2. The image of Maria (Lupu) Radziwiłł in art: portraits and engravings

CONCLUSIONS
Bibliography
Annexes

 




 

 

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
  
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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