#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

Research Research Projects

International scientific project „Historic site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden - valorisation and promotion”

I. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

Friday, April 8, the National Museum of History of Moldova organised a special event in the village of Varnița - the official launch of project „Historic site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden from Varnița - valorisation and promotion"/SITVAR...

II. INFORMATION REGARDING PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

MAY 2016

Topographic research

Land topography

Topographic research included: Control topographic survey - 2016 Scale 1:500; were assigned: land with existing borders and all objectives, reconstituted land, land reconstituted according the cadastral plan (10.06-1992), comparison of plans for 2011-2016, comparison of plans for 1992-2011, field research from 1993. The research revealed that existing land borders differ with minor errors from the borders indicated in the documents of ownership.

Three objectives were identified on the ground:

Monument (obelisk) dedicated to King Charles XII of Sweden
Monument (stele) dedicated to hetman Ivan Mazepa
A cellar from the nineteenth century.

JUNE 2016

Land cleaning

In May 2016 were started the works for cleaning the land where the historic site Camp of the King Charles XII of Sweden is located from unnecessary vegetation. The work was coordinated by Varnița local public authorities. A group of youth and members of Association Woman. Hope. Future. were involved in these works. The aim was to prepare the land for magnetometric research. During this activity were identified a foundation of some stone structure, certain archaeological objects. In this connection, professional archaeologists from Chișinău and Odessa (V. Levciuk, I. Sapojnikov) were invited in Varnița who found unnecessary magnetometric research, but deemed necessary archaeological excavation research.

Historic and documentary research

The researchers from the National Museum of History of Moldova have studied the funds of the museum archive and the National Archive of Moldova for documents related to the history of installing the monument dedicated to King Charles XII of Sweden in Varnița. Research in the National Archives of Romania is to be undertaken.

JUNE-JULY 2016

Archaeological excavations

A group of archaeologists from the National Museum of History of Moldova have conducted archaeological excavations, their funding being provided by the National Museum of History of Moldova. During excavations a foundation of a stone structure was found, in further research the specialists will determine with exactness the purpose of the building. The shape of the structure is rectangular, size is 25x10m, south-north oriented. We can assume that this is the Chancellery of King Charles XII of Sweden, based on archive data and plans of the camp of the Swedish king in Varnița published over time.

Elaborated projects

In June and July were drafted the project of restoration of the monument of King Charles XII of Sweden situated in the historic site Camp of King Charles XII of Sweden in Varnița, project of land development of the historic site, project on conservation of discovered remains identified during archaeological excavations.

AUGUST 2016

On August 2 was held the meeting of the National Council for Public Monuments where were discussed and approved the projects on land development of the historic site, the project of restoration of the monument of King Charles XII of Sweden, the project of conservation of stone structures identified during archaeological excavations. The projects should be implemented further on.

AUGUST - SEPTEMBER 2016

Conservation of the vestiges discovered during the archaeological excavations is underway, including conservation of the Royal Chancellery wall. Also the monument consecrated to King Charles XII of Sweden is undergoing restoration works. The works are conducted by S.R.L. Softconstruct (Anenii Noi).