#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.

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Exhibitions

“Fighting and suffering: Polish citizens during World War II”

Poland remembers the tragedy of the war

November 2-30, 2019

Eighty years after the outbreak of World War II, Poland, its first victim, recalls the most dramatic armed conflict in world history. The exhibition which will be open in the hall of the National Museum of History of Moldova in Chișinău until the end of November speaks about this historical event.

The exhibition "Fighting and suffering. The Polish citizens during World War II" presents the fate of Poland during the war, which, on September 1, 1939, was attacked by Germany, and on September 17, by the Soviet Union.

Despite the numerical superiority of the occupiers, the Poles have had, throughout the entire world war, a strong armed resistance, both on the territory of their country and on other fronts and battlefields around the world.

The exhibition has on display 16 panels which present the most important moments from those days. Great attention is paid to the destinies of the civilian population. This rich material is represented by archive photographs obtained from the archives of different countries, including from the Romanian collections.

The story of the war drama, which was prepared by one of the most modern museums in the world - the World War II Museum in Gdansk, as well as by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Polish Republic, will be presented in over 60 countries of the world.

The Polish Institute in Bucharest has prepared the Romanian version, enriching it with topics related to the Polish-Romanian relations during World War II, but also with photos obtained from the National Archives of Romania, which illustrates the lives of 60-100 thousand Polish refugees in Romania.

The exhibition has already been presented in the Romanian Senate in Bucharest, at the Museum of Bucovina in Suceava, as well the Museum of the Palace of Culture in Iași, at the initiative of the Polish Institute in Bucharest.

The Ambassador of the Polish Republic to Moldova, Bartlomiej Zdaniuk and the Deputy Director of the Polish Institute in Bucharest, Wojciech Mrozovsky, at the presentation of the exhibition on 15 November 2019, stressed the importance of intercultural relations between the Republic of Moldova and the Polish Republic as well as the need for such events for the contemporary society.

The drama of the Polish people during the second world conflagration, victim of the aggressive and expansionist politics of two totalitarian regimes - Nazi and Bolshevik - remains a broad and very actual topic.

The National Museum of History of Moldova, Chișinău, the hall on the ground floor, November 2-30, 2019. Free admission.