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#Exhibit of the Month

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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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Publications Journal „Tyragetia"   vol. II [XVII], nr. 1


The early medieval spirituality in the Prut-Nistru space
ISSN 1857-0240
E-ISSN 2537-6330

The early medieval spirituality in the Prut-Nistru space

Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică

In the early medieval period in the Prut- Nistru space existed a multicolored spirituality based on Christian and Pagan values. These phenomena are attested in this region at all the development stages of the early medieval period, beginning with the 5th-7th centuries until the 12th-13th centuries.

The Christian values were characteristic first of all to the sedentary people of Romanic origin which practiced this cult starting from the late antiquity. At certain stages of the early medieval period, especially after the years 865 and 988 when the Christian religion become official in the Slavic world, these Christian values were embraced by Slavs groups established in this space as well. Therefore after the 10th century the sedentary people from the Prut-Nistru region can be characterized as exclusively Christian. The Christian religion in the 10th-13th centuries was practiced probably by a part of the nomads turned sedentary in the autochthons settlements.

From canonical standpoint, the Christians from the Prut-Nistru space in the early medieval period were subordinated to the Constantinople Patriarchy. Still the Christianity from this region and other North-Pontic regions is remarked as a popular one, situation caused by the by the isolation of this territory from the Byzantine world and its inclusion within a political space dominated by different pagan migratory peoples. A living expression of the popular Christianity from this space for the period of the 5th-9th centuries can be considered the funerary rite of the sedentary people who during a relatively long period preserved along the practice of inhumation the cult of incineration of the dead. In the 10th-11th centuries the Christian cult in the Prut-Nistru space crystallizes in forms close to the contemporary one.

The pagan values as religious systems in the early medieval period were characteristic for the migratory peoples. The bearers of pagan beliefs in the Prut-Nistru were the old Slavs, the Alans, the Bulgarians, the Hungarians, the Pechinegs, the Oguzs, the Cumans and the Mongols. Some pagan rituals were practiced as remains within the Christian religious system by the sedentary people.

Regarded from the standpoint of the spirituality the early medieval civilization of the Prut-Nistru space was made of two distinct worlds: Christian – represented by the sedentary local people and the pagan – represented by the migratory tribes of the steppe nomads, while at certain stages by groups of sedentary.

Gheorghe Postică
Elena Ploșnița, Concepte muzeografice cu profil de istorie: retrospectivă și perspectivă. Biblioteca "Tyragetia", Chișinău, 2008, 248p.
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie
Gheorghe Postică
Die Perlenmosaik mit Miniaturporträts des römischen Kaisers Konstantin der Große, Constantinus II und Constantius II aus Bursuceni, Republik Moldau
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Gheorghe Postică
Orhei fortress in the strategy of Ştefan cel Mare
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie Chișinău, 2007
Gheorghe Postică, Ion Tentiuc
Early medieval bronze amulets representing horsemen from the Carpathian-Dniester region
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. VIII [XXIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Mariana Gugeanu, Doina Anăstăsoaei, Nicoleta Vornicu, Gheorghe Postică, Arhimandrit Filaret Cuzmin
Religion, Archaeology, Preservation. Căpriana Monastery, the Republic of Moldova
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. XI [XXVI], nr. 2, Istorie. Muzeologie



 

 

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#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)...

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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.
©2006-2025 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.
©2006-2025 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.
©2006-2025 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