#Exhibit of the Month

The great ruler Stephen the Great, outstanding army commander and diplomat, was also concerned during his life with the economic prosperity of the country, supporting the development of crafts, trade and fairs. During his reign, groși and half groși minted in the dinar system were issued, a monetary system introduced in Moldova during the last reign of Petru Aron (1455-1457).

The coins were minted from silver of superior title, those that reflect stability in the economic life of the country at that time. Their masterful execution at the Suceava mint is among the beautiful artistic achievements during the reign of Stephen the Great.

During his reign, two types of issues were minted, for the two denominations: groși and half groși.

Type I issues have a split shield on the obverse; in the first quarter appears a rose surmounted by a cross and three fascias, in the second quarter. For the epigraph issues (groși), the image is accompanied by the circular legend with the name of the issuer: + STEFANVS VOIEVODA. On the other side appears the bour's head with a star between the horns accompanied by the heraldic furniture - the rose and the contoured crescent, placed to the right and left of the bour's head; circular legend: MOLDAVIE COIN.

On type II coins in the shield on the obverse appears a patriarchal cross (double) and the legend STEFANVSVOIEVOD or abbreviated STEFANVSVOIE. On the reverse, as in type I, the bour's head with heraldic attributes is preserved: rose right/crescent left and crescent right/rose left. A star or rose appears between the ox's horns. The legend accompanying the face with the bour head is MONETAMOLDAVI or abbreviated MONETAMOLDA.

The dating of Stephen the Great's coins is still under discussion. According to one opinion, type I issues were minted between 1457-1476, and type II between 1480/1481-1505 (Octavian Iliescu), and another 1465/1467-1475/1476 for type I and 1476/1479-1497 for type II (Ernest Oberländer-Târnoveanu).

The coins in this showcase were discovered during the archaeological excavations at Orheiul Vechi (Trebujeni, Orhei district) in the 6th and 7th decades of the 20th century:

1. Type I money issues, groși, silver
2. Type II money issues, groși, silver
3. Type II coin issue, half groși, silver

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Library „Tyragetia"

Gheorghe Postică, Eugen Sava

The prehistoric and Late Antique settlements at Mereni

Biblioteca „Tyragetia” XXXVIII, Chișinău, 2023, 205 p. ISBN 978-9975-80-903-0; 978-36241-030-8.

The village of Mereni in the former land of Lăpușna is an old Romanian locality, founded during the reign of Alexander the Good, in the first quarter of the 15th century, and has strong răzăși traditions; the locality was attested in the documents written during the time of Stephen the Great, on 25 September 1475.

According to archaeological data, the first people appeared on the territory of the village of Mereni in prehistoric times. The oldest traces of human habitation in this area are about six thousand years old.

Since the Aeneolithic period (4th millennium BC), nomadic shepherds from the steppe regions of Eurasia roamed these lands in search of pastures. Nomadic tribes erected several earthen mounds in this area, in which they left the most ancient human burials. During the same period, on the territory of the Mereni lands there was a settlement that belonged to the civilization of Cucuteni-Trypillia.

In the middle of the second millennium BC, during the Bronze Age, another settlement was founded on the lands of Mereni, attributed to the Noua-Sabatinovka cultural community.

In the early Iron Age, around the middle of the first millennium BC, the Iranian tribes of the Scythians penetrated the lands of Mereni, leaving burial complexes and various exceptional cultural remains here.

During the Late Antiquity (3rd-4th centuries), there were four prosperous settlements in this territory, attributed to the archaeological culture of the Sântana de Mureș-Chernyakhov type.

In the period of migration of peoples, in the early Middle Ages (5th-14th centuries), nomadic shepherds of Turanian origin stayed on the lands of the village, who left graves in burial mounds located on the tops of the local hills. From the same period, traces of sedentary habitation have also been sporadically noted in the Mereni region.

In the given context, this work provides a scientific development of archaeological discoveries dating back to the period of the Late Antiquity at the Mereni "Chirca" settlement. At the same time, while presenting the stratigraphy of the settlement, in order to obtain the most complete possible picture of the Mereni "Chirca" site, the archaeological finds of the Late Antiquity period are considered in connection with remains attributed to other historical eras, including archaeological materials from the Bronze Age.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. GEOGRAPHICAL FRAMEWORK AND HISTORY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH