The current exhibition is a modernized version (“5.1”) of its predecessor. That is why its title has been retained in principle and the exhibition elements (figures, models, reconstructions, etc.) have been used. The arrangement enriched with modern visualizations is also different in terms of quality. The principle was adopted that they should support the visitor and not replace the exhibits and reconstructions. A novelty is the widely available audio guides with guided tours of the exhibition for individual or family visitors in Polish and for foreigners (English and German language versions).

The exhibition takes into account the needs of people with disabilities.

However, the most important thing is the continuation of the substantive idea from the previous exhibition – the presentation of the most important moments in the development of the region. The following dates and “keywords” generally associated with them were selected:

70,000 B.C. (Neanderthal man),
26,000 B.C. (Homo sapiens as a mammoth hunter),
5300 BC (the last hunters and first farmers),
700 BC (in the times of cremation – Bronze Age culture),
250 BC (Celts in the region),
160 AD (barbarians of the Roman period),
1000 AD (on the threshold of Christianity),
1300 AD (in Krakow).

We hope that our audience will accept the new presentation of the region’s prehistory and the Middle Ages and will continue to visit the exhibition in large numbers. We made the changes with this in mind.

The mission of the Museum is:

We are the depositary of the activities of prehistoric and protohistoric societies in the Małopolska region and we mediate between ancient societies and contemporary man.

We hope that thanks to modern narration this mediation will be more beneficial both for the viewer and for the archaeological heritage itself.

Jacek Górski

Mikołaj Orzechowski

Mirosław Zając