The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector. The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west. The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm. Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements. The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).
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
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
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
The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth...
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
