#Exhibit of the Month

The artifact is a battle axe made from magmatic rock (diabase) of gray-brown color. It was accidentally discovered in 1966 within the territory of Aluniș village, Rîșcani district. Based on its morphological characteristics, the artifact can be attributed to the Catacomb culture (29th-22nd centuries BCE).

The axe features a massive, elongated naviform body with slightly pronounced shoulders, a short and narrow edge that is flat and circular in cross-section. The blade is slightly curved. The hole was drilled in the maximum width of the object. It is circular in shape with a diameter of 2.2 cm. The surface of the artifact is meticulously polished, worked with great care, and shows no signs of damage or chipping.

Dimensions: Length: 20.0 cm; Maximum width: 8.4 cm; Edge diameter: 5.0 cm; Blade width: 7.0 cm; Weight: 2.3 kg.

Stone battle axes are characteristic of the Catacomb culture communities and are most often found as grave goods, deposited in tombs. Their presence in funerary complexes suggests a multifaceted functionality: weapons, social symbols, and ritual objects. Initially used as weapons, the axes became social symbols for their owners, later acquiring votive significance when deposited in tombs to serve the deceased in the afterlife.

The social symbolic function of stone battle axes is indicated by the high-quality rocks used for their manufacture and the exceptionally meticulous craftsmanship. The large dimensions of the axe from Aluniș support this hypothesis and distinguish it from other examples.

The discovery of stone battle axes outside a funerary complex may indicate their votive deposition. It is difficult to imagine that these exceptionally well-crafted pieces, made from high-quality rocks transported over great distances, could have been abandoned or lost accidentally. It is far more likely that they were deposited for magical-religious purposes, a possibility that may also apply to the stone axe discovered at Aluniș.

Virtual Tour

Exhibitions

"A mapping of old estates"

May 18th - July 15, 2011

The exhibition is organized on the occasion of the 195th anniversary from the time of creation of the Bessarabian Topographic Commission headed by Colonel S.I. Kornilovich (1816) and covers the chronological period from the late 18^th century to the first half of the 19^th century.

The main exhibits are maps of estates kept in the collection of the National Museum of Archaeology and History of Moldova. The content of the exhibition is divided into four sections:

Forms of ownership: large and small land property;
Land surveyors: land relations intermediaries;
Land relations: agrarian reforms, sale, purchase, lease, and inheritance of land;
The fate of old estates: collectivization and dispossession.

Stages of development of the forms of land property in the time under review are presented chronologically, highlighting the main stages, and thematically, in accordance with the sections listed above. In addition to the maps, there were used auxiliary exhibits meant to create a historical background of the exhibition. Among these objects there are documents (titles, the manifesto of church lands and the Emancipation Manifesto of February 19, 1861, deeds of sale, lease, and tax), postcards, models of estates, books and magazines of the time with information on land relations, photographs and personal belongings of land surveyors.

The exhibition is concluded by the section "The fate of old estates: collectivization and dispossession", which includes items that refer to sovietization of land relationship (photographs and documents).

#Exhibit of the Month

Stone Battle Axe Discovered at Aluniș, Rîșcani District

"A mapping of old estates"

May 18th - July 15, 2011

#Exhibit of the Month