#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

Services

Admission to Exhibitions

Entrance fees:

General Admission:

Adults - 50 lei
Pensioners, students - 20 lei
Pupils - 10 lei

Free admission:
Preschool children (under 7 years old), Children from residential institutions, Children with disabilities (under 18 years old) and their companions,Adults with severe and accentuated disabilities (disability degrees I and II), Conscripts, Official and cultural delegations (within the museum's operating hours), Employees of the national museum network, the Ministry of Culture, and national cultural heritage institutions, Holders of ICOM and ICOMOS cards.

Free entry for all visitors: the last Thursday of the month.

Closed: Monday and on January 1, 7, and 8; March 8; the first and second day of Easter; May 1 and 9; August 27 and 31; October 14; December 25.

Guided Tours

The museum offers guided tours in Romanian, Russian, and English upon request for organized groups or individual visitors (groups of 5 to 30 people). Tours must be scheduled at least 24 hours in advance by phone (022240426) or email (muzeuldeistorie@gmail.com), specifying the date, time, group profile and size, and preferred language.

Guided Tour Fees:

For a group of 5 to 30 people:
Adults - 150 lei
Students, pupils, pensioners - 100 lei

Guided tours in foreign languages (Russian, English):

Adults - 300 lei
Students, pupils, pensioners - 200 lei

Free guided tours:
For children from residential institutions and military conscripts.

Educational Activities

Fees (per hour):

Educational Workshops - 20 MDL
Interactive Lessons - 20 MDL

Photo and Video Filming in the Museum

Photographing/Scanning Museum Pieces

For a museum piece - 250 MDL
For reproduction of a piece, commercial publications - 1000 MDL
Special video/photo shoots in museum rooms
(per hour) - 1500 MDL

Photography or photocopying of the Museum exhibit items by juridical persons is possible only with the permission from the Museum administration, obtained in written form.

Specialized assistance

Selection of textual and illustrative material from the Museum's Heritage - 30 MDL

Approval of exhibition documentation (for one author's sheet) 500 MDL

Expert Examination of Cultural Values

• in the Museum: 150 MDL for an object;
• within the city limits: 300 MDL for an object;
• outside the city: additionally includes the traveling and accommodation costs, at the expense of a client

Library

The Museum Library’s collection includes more than 10,000 books on a wide range of subjects, such as archaeology, history, museum studies, and scholarly reference works of interest to the Museum staff. The Library is also available to the public.

Costs:

to borrow a book: 5 MDL / a day;

Rent of Museum Space

The 1^st floor hall and the temporary exhibition room may be rented for temporary exhibitions, scientific and cultural events. For additional information and reservations, contact the Accounts Department, by phone: + 373 (22) 23-82-69, or the Deputy Director for Public Relations, by phone: + 373 (22) 23-83-13.

Museum Shop

In the Museum Shop can be purchased publications concerned archaeology and history of Moldova, exhibition catalogues, booklets and museum guides, and replicas of exhibit items are available.