#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

Annual Scientific Session of the Museum

As part of the institutional project „Scientific valorification and promotion of various categories of museum heritage"(2013-2014) was organized the 23rd edition of the yearly session of scientific communications on October 3rd and 4th, 2013. This year the session was opened by welcome words from dr.hab. Eugen Sava, general director of the museum, Victor Ghilaș, scientific secretary of Humanistic Sciences Section of ASM, univ. prof. Ion Eremia, State University of Moldova, Sergiu Musteață, dean of History and Ethno-pedagogy Department of State Pedagogical University „I.Creangă". Their speeches are messages of appreciation of museum collaborators efforts towards scientific research and public valorization of museum heritage.

The participants at the opening session assisted also at the presentation of two numbers of the museum journal Tyragetia. Dr. Aurel Zanoci and dr.hab. Elena Ploșnița expressed their gratitude to authors which contributed to the publication of a new issue of this prestigious scientific journal.

The program of the session included 60 presentations divided in three sections. Three papers were presented at the plenary session by dr. L. Zabolotnaia (Institute of History of ASM), dr. hab. E. Sava and dr. A. Boldureanu (National Museum of History of Moldova).

This year the session was attended by researchers and museographers from universities, academic and museum institutions from the republic and from abroad: Romania, Ukraine and Russia.

At the section Archaeology, Ancient and Medieval History were presented 22 papers, most of them focusing on the results of the latest archaeological investigations. With a novelty spirit are the papers „Preliminary considerations regarding archaeological research at Soroca Fortress in 2012-2013"(S. Mustață, I. Tentiuc, I. Ursu), „Preliminary archaeological investigations at Manuc-Bey Complex" (O. Levițki, I. Ciobanu, L. Ciobanu), „Archaeological research at Saharna Mică open settlement from 2013"(I. Niculiță, A. Nicic, A. Corobcean) etc.

Those 24 papers presented in the section Modern and contemporary history revealed an array of topics regarding economy, culture, religion, personalities from national history and culture. Two papers - „Advertising for slaves trade in Romanian Principalities" (dr. Marian Petcu, Bucharest) and „Gipsies/Roma - the seventh national minority in Big Romania (1918-1940)" ( Ion Duminică, Chișinău, based on archival documents and multidisciplinary historiographic resources, highlighted some problems of the historic and social evolution of Roma in different historical periods. Interesting and novelty subjects were reflected in the presentations of dr. Dinu Poștarencu, dr. Igor Cereteu, dr. Liliana Condraticova, dr. prof. Valentin Tomuleț etc.

The presentations form the section Museology and valorization of museum heritage were rich in thematic and approached various problems from national museology and spoke about the need to permanently valorize museum cultural assets. Are worth of mentioning the papers „West-European dictionaries and encyclopedias from the collections of the National History Museum of Moldova" by dr. Andrei Emilciuc, „KEV Journal - an environment for advertising (19th - beginning of 20th cc.) by V. Serjant, „Book editors from Bessarabia (end of 19th - beginning of 20th cc.) by A. Grițco. Tina Fedoseeva from Ukraine, presented „Principles of organizing temporary exhibitions on the place of archaeological and architectural monuments" which raised many questions and provoked and serious debate.
Already a tradition of national museology, this year's edition of the session was part of events organized on the occasion of the 30th anniversary from the foundation of the National History Museum of Moldova.

#Exhibit of the Month

Ceramic Vessel Set from Bălceana-Hâncești (5th–7th Centuries)

Annual Scientific Session of the Museum

#Exhibit of the Month