One of the responsibilities of the State Archaeological Museum (PMA) instituted by the Ordinance of the President of the Polish Republic (1928) was to be a “state institution for researches and studies”, its key objective being to “study prehistory, primarily that of the territory of the Polish State”. The focus placed on the research activity followed from the specific nature of an archaeological museum, which for its collections relies almost entirely from scientific research – ie, excavations. Moreover, its collections require a much more careful scientific treatment than for instance, those of art museums. Achievements of the PMA in the field of science and research are best illustrated by publications, first of all, articles published in the “Wiadomości Archeologiczne” journal, starting from volume X brought out by the Museum itself. As early in 1928 the PMA staff were engaged in investigating, more and less extensively, of 76 sites, the results of which were subsequently published in “Wiadomości Archeologiczne”. Even in the first volume of the journal published by the Museum attention is drawn by an extensive article by Zygmunt Szmit of the PMA, dealing with “the study of the Stone Age in Podlasie”, a recapitulation of many seasons of survey and excavation made by the author. Subsequent volumes of the journal brought further studies on the Stone Age and Bronze Age. Research activity of the PMA in the 1928––1939 period was recapitulated, somewhat by coincidence, in two publications: the “Krzemionki Opatowskie” by Stefan Krukowski, to this day a model publication of the research results from the Neolithic flint mine, and volume XVI of “Wiadomości Archeologiczne”, planned in honour of Józef Kostrzewski’s anniversary. The latter carried notable articles by PMA staff concerned with the cultural and settlement continuity between Lusatian Culture and early medieval Slavs. The issue later became one of the major subjects of archaeological debate after WW II, conducted also in PMA with contribution from its staff members. The first volume of “Wiadomości Archeologiczne” published after the war contained the results of follow up studies of pre-1945 excavations reporting also on new evidence recovered in the first years after the war. A noteworthy development was the marked increase in laboratory analyses of the excavated material. Another novelty was the publication of evidence from the territory included within the Polish State after 1945, first of all, former Ostpreussen –apart from carrying out excavations an urgent matter was to safeguard the region’s museum collections from damage and theft. Political change of the mid-1950s included, among its many effects, also a 20 years’ boom in publishing. In this period PMA launched the “Materiały Starożytne” yearly journal. Its first volume carried an article by Aleksander Kamiński on archaeology of the Balt Jatvings’ tribes in northeast Poland. Written by an author of known political leanings, the paper had the nature of a political manifesto charting out, at the same time, the course for future research; a natural consequence of this article was PMA participation in research activities of the Comprehensive Jatving Expedition – probably the most ambitious archaeology project during the Polish People’s Republic. Subsequent publications of the PMA prove that the Museum had also developed into a centre of research on the widely conceived Roman Period, the study of Przeworsk Culture in particular, and questions of chronology; it was also greatly successful in investigating Bronze Age in northeast Poland, extending the range of its Stone Age research from the Neman to the Dnestr. Two recently published volumes of “Wiadomości Archeologiczne” are a fine illustration of how PMA continues its main avenues of research activity: they include reports on research carried in Poland, but also from the neighbouring states of Lithuania, Belarus and Ukraine, testifying to the position of PMA as a research centre which, thanks to its lively activity and intellectual attractiveness has been animating research and scientific exchange to a degree contributing to the Central and East European archaeology. This position is confirmed by the success enjoyed by two publication series which would not have been possible without intellectual contribution from PMA staff members. The Series Studies on the prehistoric flint raw materials economy is a valuable contribution into the study of the Stone Age exceptionally, while the Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica records the archaeology of Roman Period cemeteries in Poland.