On the question of archaeological sites in Chişinău (Catalogue of archaeological sites)

Oral tradition and written sources indicate that the historic core of Chişinău is located in the lower part of the modern city adjacent to the river of Bic. Thus, in medieval documents the name of Chişinău was firstly mentioned on July 17, 1436 in the document of Moldavian rulers Ilie and Stefan, in connection with the determination of borders of land granted to the Logofat Oancea for faithful service: “…near Bic, on the other side, in the valley opposite to Cheseneul of Acbas, by the wellspring, where there is a Tatar settlement, opposite the woods”. The locality emerged at the source, that had been providing the inhabitants with drinking water until 1930s, had existed, apparently, already in the second half of the 14th century, before the ousting the Golden Horde from the south-eastern part of the Carpathian-Dniester area in the 30-80s of this century. Archaeological exploration in the recent years has revealed that within the actual boundaries of Chişinău there are 55 archaeological sites (fig. 1). Of these, 21 are classified as single- and multilayer ones and 31 are burial mounds. The abovementioned 8 multi-layer and 13 single-layer sites include 6 prehistoric sites, 23 settlements of different times, one fortification, and 5 necropolises.