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#Exhibit of the Month

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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


Exhibitions

„Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”

March 18 - May 5, 2014

The exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work" is part of a new cycle of cultural and scientific events - a project with the generic „Personalities of the 20th century" initiated by the NMHM having as objective the valorization and promotion of the achievements of notorious personalities of national culture and science.

Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”

The exhibition displays over 150 photographs, documents, state distinctions, toffees which were awarded to V. Gagiu at different international competitions and festivals, personal objects, film posters etc. - relics that reflect the life and work of the renowned scenarist and film director.

Different compartment of the exhibition shows us the years of studies, professional activity, social activity and private life of V. Gagiu.

The photos represent fascinating fragments from the most valuable cinema projections realized by the late scenarist and film director, such as: Omul merge după soare (The man follows the sun), Când pleacă cocorii (When cranes are leaving), Gustul pâinii (The taste of bread), Zece ierni pe-o vară (Ten winters for one summer), Corbii prada n-o împart (The crows don't share the pray), Unde ești, dragoste (Where are you, love), Deținutul misterios (The mysterious prisoner), Ultimul haiduc (The last haiduc) etc. They also offer an opportunity to meet with the great actors who featured in Valeriu Gagiu's movies: Grigore Grigoriu, Dumitru Fusu, Valeriu Cupcea, Vasile Zubcu, Marica Bălan, Gheorghe Grâu, Natalia Saico, Larisa Lujina, Anatol Papanov, Valeriu Gataev, Nicolae Gubenco, Larisa Guzeeva etc.

Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”
Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”

Among the many valuable objects displayed in the exhibition some have a particular sentimental value.

This is an image of V. Gagiu near the bust of Nicolae Iorga, the place where once was the Sanatorium - Maternity of doctor Rudolf Kurtz, where on May 1st, 1938 was born the future scenarist and film director.

This is a calendar with a fragment from the movie „Omul merge după soare" (The man follows the sun) with which V. Gagiu made his debut in 1961 at „Moldova-film" Studio as a scenarist.

The typewriting machine „Colibri" is another special memorial object which was used by V. Gagiu to write his first scenarios and which has been confiscated in 1971 by the KGB the during the search conducted at home.

Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”Commemorative exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work”

The exhibition „Valeriu Gagiu. The man and his work" is organized by the National Museum of History of Moldova in collaboration with the Cinematographers Union of the Republic of Moldova.


 




Independent Moldova
Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
Bessarabia and MASSR between the Two World Wars
Bessarabia and Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in the Period between the Two World Wars
Revival of National Movement
Time of Reforms and their Consequences
Abolition of Autonomy. Bessarabia – a New Tsarist Colony
Period of Relative Autonomy of Bessarabia within the Russian Empire
Phanariot Regime
Golden Age of the Romanian Culture
Struggle for Maintaining of Independence of Moldova
Formation of Independent Medieval State of Moldova
Era of the
Great Nomad Migrations
Early Middle Ages
Iron Age and Antiquity
Bronze Age
Aeneolithic Age
Neolithic Age
Palaeolithic Age
  
  

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#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...

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

 



The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC

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The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
©2006-2026 National Museum of History of Moldova
Visit museum 31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
Phones:
Secretariat: +373 (22) 24-43-25
Department of Public Relations and Museum Education: +373 (22) 24-04-26
Fax: +373 (22) 24-43-69
E-mail: office@nationalmuseum.md
Technical Support: info@nationalmuseum.md
Web site administration and maintenance: Andrei EMILCIUC