Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century. The word pafta is of Turkic origin-possibly entering the language via Iranian influence-derived from the Persian word bafta, meaning "woven," which evolved in Turkish to signify "plate." Today, the term is used in nearly identical forms in Romanian (pafta), Bulgarian (пафта), Serbian (пафте), and some Aromanian dialects (pafta), designating functional and ornamental clothing accessories used to fasten belts, girdles, or sashes, crafted from various materials and decorated using different techniques. The three buckles decorated in the polychrome enamel technique, preserved in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova, belong to the South-Danubian tradition and are dated to the late 19th - early 20th century.
Each buckle consists of two identical trapezoidal parts, their surfaces divided into three roughly equal registers, adorned with stylized vegetal motifs forming a metal lattice into which enamel is poured. The two parts extend into sharp angles at the ends, forming a triangle with the edge of the last decorative register, similarly ornamented. The enamel used to fill the floral motifs is black, turquoise, white, orange, green, yellow, and burgundy. The entire decorative field is framed by a beaded border.
On the reverse, both components retain a copper band riveted along the edge, used to fasten the ends of the belt. The fastening system, made by interlocking the hinges of the two parts and secured with a movable pin attached by a chain to a clasp fixed on one of the buckle pieces, is concealed by a rectangular plate (riveted with three pins to the body of the piece), with narrow edges ending in sharp angles, decorated in the same style and technique. Additionally, it features three circular settings with notched edges bent inward to hold centrally placed red and green glass paste. These settings are framed by a radiant, notched band.
The symbolism of the color palette encodes meanings and symbols, chosen for their believed magical powers. Red has always represented love, affection, and protection against curses and the evil eye; white symbolizes purity and spiritual and physical cleanliness; blue is symbolically associated with infinity, morning, new beginnings, and transformation; green represents destiny, hope, prosperity, balance, and rebirth, being linked to nature's revival each spring and to life itself.
Toward the definition of the Edinets archaeological group
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. II [XVII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The Prut-Dniester area was a contact zone of various genetically unrelated archaeological cultures of Eastern, Central and South Eastern Europe in the early Bronze Age. One of these was the Edinets group which was first identified in 1972, and which has been considered a separate archaeological entity since 1974. Notwithstanding several decades of research the history of this group remains at best obscure.
The group is safely localised in a compact area on the left bank of the Middle Prut on a forest-steppe plateau, and is primarily represented by funerary monuments – burial grounds and a kurgan - which are few in number. The burials are characterised by a complex funerary rite: both inhumation and cremation are attested, and the usage of a large amount of stones for construction of burial pits is worthy of note. The inventory found in the funerary complexes varies; the most representative is a collection of two-handle bowls.
The study of the artefacts revealed by several years of excavations at Izvorul lui Luca, on a multi-layer settlement near the village of Trinca, allowed to segment a collection of ceramics and equipment, which, as the results of its morphological and technological analysis shows, belongs to the Edinets group. This observation points to a possibility of locating here a settlement of the Edinets group as well. It is worth noting the unique find of a two-handle bowl analogous to that of the Edinets culture at the edge of a kurgan near the village of Burlănești.
The emergence of the Edinets archaeological monuments is due to a migration of a small group of people from the West, i.e. the Carpatian/Danubian area. Both in the funerary rite and in various categories of equipment it shows close affinities with certain archaeological groups of the Carpatian basin. The stratigraphy suggests a dating back to the end of the III – first quarter of the II millennium BC.
Татьяна И. Демченко
Monuments of the Corjeuți type within the context of the Early Bronze Age History of Eastern and Central Europe
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. III [XVIII], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Татьяна И. Демченко
Kurgans on the left bank of the Middle Prut (excavations of 1982 and 1984)
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. I [XVI], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
Buckles (paftale) are an almost indispensable element of traditional women's dress in the Southeastern European area, particularly in the Balkans, and have been in use over a long period, from the 14th to the 20th century....
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.
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.
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.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
