#Exhibit of the Month

Bronze cauldrons of the Scythian time are rare in the Northern Black Sea region, especially on its western borders. Therefore, those few items found on the territory of the Republic of Moldova occupy a worthy place in the collection of the National Museum of History of Moldova (NMHM). In particular, in the archaeological exhibition, two bronze cauldrons are displayed, discovered near the village of Nicolscoe in 1988 in burial mounds no. 14 and 15. In addition, in 2020, two bronze cauldrons without any accompanying documents were found in the collection of NMHM; however, they were visually identified as coming from various excavations in the Low Dniester region, such as burial mound no. 45 near Dubăsari and burial mound no. 1 near the Răscăieții Noi village.

The object presented as the exhibit of the month is a little-known find discovered in 1979 in barrow 1 near the village of Răscăieții Noi in the Ștefan Vodă district. In addition to its outstanding size (about 10 m high), this mound is known for discovering a cast bronze finial in the Scythian animal style on its surface in 1953. However, by the beginning of excavations, the locals had damaged part of the mound and a Scythian cast bronze cauldron was found near it. The cauldron was seriously damaged by mechanical impact, as a result of which the rim was deformed, and the walls, with one preserved vertical handle, were bent inwards. Fragments in the upper part of the body and one handle have been lost. The total reconstructed height of the cauldron is 24 cm (excluding the handles), the reconstructed diameter of the hemispherical cauldron is 30 cm, and the weight is 6.5 kg. In 2020, data on the chemical composition of the bronze cauldron alloy were obtained, revealing that it was cast from an alloy of almost 95 per cent copper. Unfortunately, due to the loss of information on the context of the discovery of the cauldron at Răscăieții Noi, it is impossible to link its discovery with one or another Scythian burial of the barrow. Moreover, the grave goods of other Scythian burials of Barrow 1 do not allow them to date below the 4th century BC. However, the cauldron with vertical handles from Răscăieții Noi most likely belongs earlier. This may be indicated by a bronze finial from the first half of the 5th century BC, which was found on this barrow in 1953. In addition, burial 7 from the nearest excavated barrow 2 at Răscăieții Noi, containing a plaque depicting a rolled predator (a copy of which is also on display at the NMHM), belongs to the mid- 5th century BC. Thus, there is a high probability that the cauldron from Barrow 1 at Răscăieții Noi is associated with the late Middle Scythian period or the mid-5th century BC.

Scythian bronze cauldrons in the west area are concentrated in three main regions: Bukovina-Podolia, the Lower Danube, and the Lower Dniester. Some Scythian cauldrons have no reliable archaeological context. Nevertheless, in combination with the same "stray" finds like the Scythian statues, the finds of Scythian cauldrons mark the Scythian presence, most likely not earlier than the late 6th century or even the turn of the 6th-5th centuries BC. The cauldrons first appeared in Bukovina, where they have been known since the middle of the 7th century BC. Bronze cauldrons (with their carriers) entered the steppe region 150-200 years later, and the "military" burials that appeared in the western steppe regions were no earlier than the middle of the 5th century BC. Most burials with cauldrons (and, apparently, the stray finds) are dated back to the second half of the 5th century BC. Then, in the early 4th century BC, their quantity was reduced, and after the first quarter of the 4th century BC, they completely disappeared from the cultural practice of the population of the steppes of the North-Western Black Sea region.

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#Exhibit of the Month

February 2023

Radio receivers: Telefunken and Philips

Radio represents one of the outstanding technological achievements of human thought, which led to the emergence and development of the most powerful and popular means of mass communication. From its beginnings, radio broadcasting had immediate effects on the social, economic, military, but also on the cultural level.

Radio is the work of time, to which many scientists have contributed. Among the most important names we mention: the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell, who predicted, in 1860, the existence of radio waves; the German physicist Heinrich Rudolph Hertz, who demonstrated that rapid variations in electric current could be projected into space as radio waves; the American inventor of Croatian origin Nicola Tesla, who, in 1891, built the theoretical model of the device that produced electromagnetic cycles.

Those who are primarily credited with this discovery - the Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi and the Russian physicist Alexander Popov - did nothing more than synthesize or weave together floating ideas, so no one has intellectual authorship, which does not exclude their rights conferred by patents and glory.

For more than 120 years, radio has been telling stories, saving lives, delivering news, educating generations, providing a means of recreation, shaping a society's experience of diversity. As a sign of appreciation for this powerful vector of information and culture, UNESCO instituted, in 2012, a special holiday, World Radio Day, which is celebrated worldwide on February 13.

The advent of sound broadcasting propelled the development of radio technology. Gradually, starting in 1920, the need for collective auditions determined the manufacture of the first loudspeakers based on the principle of electromagnetic induction, which had a diaphragm or a diffuser cone. Moved by a metal paddle, they actuated a large mass of air, thus producing loud sounds. Overcoming the evolutionary framework, with all the inherent difficulties, the radio was continuously perfected, with predilection after the invention of radio lamps and transistors, arriving at the construction of increasingly complex devices.

The National Museum of History of Moldova conserves and uses about 120 radio receivers with historical, technical and memorial value, manufactured between 1934 and the beginning of the 21st century in various countries. The radio sets in the museum heritage are of interest for the history of science and technology, some of them standing out as reference pieces for the evolution of means of communication.

From the point of view of the principle of operation, the radios owned by the museum are direct-amplified, reactive and superheterodyne. From a categorical point of view, the museum's radio technical fund is made up of: 36 radio equipment, 17 radio receivers with electronic tubes and 68 transistorized radio receivers. This month, as part of the "Exhibit of the Month" series, we bring to the public's attention two stationary radio receivers with electronic tubes, Telefunken and Philips, of great historical and technical value, they laid the foundations for the constitution of the museum's collection of radio devices.

Telefunken radio receiver, model Koncert Trial, was manufactured at the Radiotechna enterprise in Prague-Prelouc, Czechoslovakia, between 1934 and 1935. It is a superheterodyne device, in a Bakelite case. Technical characteristics: 4 electronic tubes - REN904, REN904, RENS1374S and RGN564; the wave ranges - UL (long waves), UM (medium waves) and US (short waves); dimensions - 290x355x175 mm; power supply - 110/240 V; speaker - permanently dynamic.

Philips radio receiver, model 36U, was manufactured in 1943 at the Philips workshop in Hungary (which operated from 1931 to 1949). It is a superheterodyne device, in a bakelite case. Technical characteristics: 4 electronic tubes - UCH21, UCH21, UBL21 and UY21; wave ranges: UL (long waves) and US (short waves); dimensions: 250x170x130 mm; power supply: 110/150/220 V, weight: 2.5 kg; speaker - permanently dynamic.

#Exhibit of the Month

Scythian bronze cauldron from Răscăieții Noi

February 2023

Radio receivers: Telefunken and Philips

#Exhibit of the Month