In comparison to other European archaeological museums the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw, is not a very old institution. However, as a seat of culture and learning it is bound closely with the 20th century history of the Polish State, Warsaw and Mazowsze. The idea of establishing a Central State Museum of Prehistory with a seat in Warsaw surfaced soon after Poland’s rebirth at the end of WW I. On 31 October 1918 the Regency Council issued a Decree on the protection of monuments of the past. The document formed a basis for instituting in 1920 of the State Board of Inspectors of Prehistoric Monuments. Soon it became apparent that active protection of archaeological monuments required enactment of an institution, which would be responsible for accumulating collections and documentation from excavation, engage in conservation and interpretation of archaeological evidence. The results of research would then be presented to the general public in the form of exhibitions. The legal basis for organising the Museum was provided by the 1923 official decision of the Ministry of Religious Beliefs and Public Education. Housed at first in the kitchens of the Warsaw Royal Castle in 1926 the new museum received as its seat the building of the 18th c. former Officer Cadets’ College in the Royal Łazienki Park (Fig. 2). With time the State Board of Inspectors of Prehistoric Monuments, was succeeded, by the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw (Państwowe Muzeum Archeologiczne – PMA), established by the Ordinance of President Professor Ignacy Mościcki (Fig. 3) on 22 March 1928. The responsibilities of the newly established institution, laid down in the Ordinance, included conservation, research and dissemination of knowledge. The principal task was “(...) preservation of prehistoric monuments on the territory of the Republic of Poland. The Ordinance was signed by the members of the Council of Ministers, headed by Marshall Józef Piłsudski (Fig. 4). Two weeks later (on 2 April 1928), PMA received its statute by the Council of Ministers, which organised the Museum into four departments: Palaeolithic, Neolithic, the Metal Age, Conservation and Study of Monuments in the Field. On the basis of the described regulations PMA assumed the function of a central and sole research and museum institution of the Polish State in the field of archaeology. Dr Roman Jakimowicz (1889–1951) was appointed its first Director (Fig. 5). Starting from volume X, released in 1929, PMA took over the publication of “Wiadomości Archeologiczne, the first Polish journal of archaeology created in 1873, which to this day continues as the organ of the Museum. In the 1930s PMA was the largest and principal archaeological institution in Poland, charged with a wide range of activity and authority. Many members of its staff subsequently became known as distinguished scholars and professors, Stefan Krukowski (1890–1982; fig. 6), Józef Żurowski (1892––1936; fig. 7), Jan Dylik (1905–1973) and Konrad Jażdżewski (1908–1985). Dylik and Jażdżewski after WW II became members of the Polish Academy of Sciences. The greatest achievements of PMA during the period between the two world wars included investigation of the Neolithic settlement and cemetery at Brześć Kujawski (Fig. 11), study and protection of the Neolithic flint mine at Krzemionki Opatowskie (Fig. 9, 10) – prehistoric monument of highest class in Central Europe, investigation of the Pre-Roman Period cremation cemetery at Wilanów near Warsaw, rescue excavation of Roman Period “princely graves at Łęg Piekarski (Fig. 14) and of the Early Medieval cemetery in Sandomierz. A project of registration and verification of fortified settlements was launched, primarily in the Mazowsze province. In 1931 the PMA opened the first exhibition of its collections, which until the outbreak of the war was enjoyed by 16 000 visitors. As a state institution research activities of the PMA were for most of its existence were meant to serve the prestige of the State and State ideology. This is reflected by the subject and tenor of some articles and papers released by the Director of the Museum (cf R. Jakimowicz 1933b). One of the principal pre-1945 research achievements of PMA is the synthesis, “The prehistory of the Polish lands (1939–1948), prepared by Professor Józef Kostrzewski, of the Poznań University, Stefan Krukowski and Roman Jakimowicz, both from the PMA; another outstanding work, “Krzemionki Opatowskie, was published on the eve of WW II (J. Lech 1998, p. 55). Soon after Warsaw was occupied by the German army the collection of the PMA became the object of systematic and well organised plunder, carried out in November and December of 1939 by a special German unit, probably the Haupttreuhandstelle Ost, Denkmalschutzkommando. The outrage was supervised by three nazi archaeologists, officers of the SS – dr Ernst Petersen, professor of the University in Rostock, dr Hans Schleif – professor of the University in Berlin, previously the head of German studies at the Greek Olympia, and Günther Thärigen. All the precious finds as well as material associated by German prehistorians with Indogermanen, Urgermanen and Germans were seized. The robbery was accompanied by dramatic scenes, recorded by dr. Konrad Jażdżewski (1995, p. 141–142), during the war years acting as head of the Museum. Occupation authorities expelled PMA from the Łazienki Park, now for Germans only, to the building of the National Museum. The PMA staff, seriously reduced in number were demoted to caretaker. By the end of the war PMA has lost about 50% of its collections, 70–90% furniture, technical and research equipment, its entire library, archival records and photography collection. After the occupation Warsaw was a city of ruins. Under the new political regime Ludwik Sawicki (1893–1972), prehistorian and geologist concerned with Palaeolithic studies, associated before 1939 with the Polish Communist Party, was appointed Director of the PMA (Fig. 16). The first years after the war were a period of recuperation from wartime losses. In late 1945 PMA staff included 18 employees, in 1947 twice that number. Originally, Palace Lubomirski had been intended as the seat of the PMA. Pending its reconstruction the Museum was housed temporarily in a small building at 18 Chocimska street (Fig. 23). In 1949 the post of PMA Director was taken by dr Zdzisław Rajewski (1907–1974) from Poznań, one of the first archaeologists to investigate Biskupin (Fig. 21). From that time, until 2000, the archaeological reserve and the museum at Biskupin continued as a branch unit of PMA. From 1949 PMA joined the nationwide “Millennium of the Polish State research project, the largest such venture in the history of the Polish humanities (cf J. Lech 1998, p. 65–78). The Museum carried out research in Cieszyn (Fig. 20), Drohiczyn and at the Bródno near Warsaw (Fig. 19). Special focus was placed on the area of former East Prussia where, starting from 1945, Jerzy Antoniewicz (1919–1970) started securing archaeological collections for PMA. During the Stalinist regime research at Biskupin took on a micro-regional character. Next to the investigation of the fortified settlement of Lusatian Culture (Fig. 21), identified at the time with ancient Slavs, focus was extended to the early medieval settlement in the same region. The aim of the Biskupin research was to document and clarify the “continuity of the historical process of ancient Poland, using the methodology of historical materialism (D. Piotrowska 1998, p. 272–274). PMA also investigated numerous archaeological sites in Mazowsze and the area of greater Warsaw. Until the Institute of History of Material Culture of the Polish Academy of Science – IHKM PAN – was organised in 1953 (J. Lech 1998, p. 78–84), PMA was the largest central archaeological institution in Poland. In the first half of the 1950s the Museum played an important role in the process of educating students in field archaeology at Archaeological Training Camps at Biskupin (Fig. 22). In 1957 staff members of PMA, Zdzisław Rajewski, Aleksander Gardawski and Jerzy Gąssowski (the latter on PMA staff until 1954) published the first Marxist textbook of archaeology “Archaeology and prehistory of Poland, addressed to the wider public, partly bursting the established mould of culture based archaeology. When Palace Lubomirski was ultimately handed over to the army, in October 1958 PMA received as its seat the reconstructed mid-17th c. building of the Arsenal (Fig. 25). In 1960 the Museum organised “The Dawn of Polish Statehood great millennial exhibition (Fig. 26). Other important exhibitions followed: “Slav culture in the early Middle Ages (1965), “Poland’s culture in the early medieval period (1966) (Fig. 27), “Hallstatt – the most valuable prehistoric finds from the Vienna Naturhistorisches Museum (1969) (Fig. 29). In 1967 the staff of the PMA numbered 94. A year later 1968 the Museum established a branch unit at Krzemionki Opatowskie (Fig. 17, 18). After the decease of Professor Z. Rajewski in 1974 the post of Director was assumed by dr Krzysztof Dąbrowski (1931–1979), active member of ICOM. The new Director took steps to stimulate research and dissemination activity of the Museum. In 1975 a storage unit was set up at Rybno near Sochaczew (Fig. 36). The major events of the decade included exhibitions: “Thracian treasures. The culture and art of the Thracians in Bulgaria (1976) and “The gold of Peru (1978), which drew great crowds (Fig. 32, 33). In 1978 PMA handed over its branch unit Krzemionki Opatowskie to the Museum in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski; in 1979 K. Dąbrowski succeeded in reviving the investigation of the prehistoric flint mine, which has continued until the present. In 1980 dr Jan Jaskanis became Director of the PMA (Fig. 35). The 1980s were a difficult and turbulent period in the history of the Polish People’s Republic, a time of a severe economic crisis. The Museum was also affected – no longer able to keep up regular publication of its showcase journal Wiadomości Archeologiczne (Fig. 28); matters improved around the turn of the century. In 1982 a new Department of the Archaeology of the Balts was organised, crowning research carried out by the PMA in north-east Poland. The department prepared the exhibition “The Balts, the northern neighbours of the Slavs, warmly received across Europe (Fig. 39). International success was also scored during the same decade by the exhibition “Biskupin – the Polish Pompeii. In 1986, in cooperation with IHKM PAN, the PMA travelled to Turin with the exhibition “Treasures of Ancient Poland. Important achievements of the Museum during the 1980s include the exploration of the mining workings at Krzemionki Opatowskie and providing the substantive input needed to complete two attractive underground tourist trails at the mine (Fig. 38). After the change of regime in 1989 PMA organised a standing exhibition “Prehistory of Polish lands (1992). Its leading research ventures have included publication, in German or English, of monographs in the Monumenta Archaeologica Barbarica series, co-published by the PMA. A new chapter in the history of the PMA was opened by the 1 January 1999 national administrative reform. From being directly subordinated to the Ministry of Culture the PMA passed under the provincial-level authority of the local parliament of the Mazowsze province (woj. mazowieckie). Its well-organised and income-generating unit in Biskupin was transferred to the authority of the local parliament of the woj. kujawsko-pomorskie and in August 2000 became an independent museum. In 2001 the post of PMA Director was assumed by dr Wojciech Brzeziński (Fig. 40). All the main lines of research, developed in the period between the two great wars, are being pursued by the Museum. One of the leading concerns of the Museum continues to be regular publication of archaeological and numismatic sources from its rich collections (T. Węgrzynowicz 2001; K. Mitkowa-Szubert 2002; W. Obuchowski 2003). The most recent policy pursued by the Museum aims at restoring the Wiadomości Archeologiczne journal to its pre-1939 high standards and status of a yearly magazine. In 2003 the Wiadomości Archeologiczne celebrated its 130th anniversary, making it the longest running archaeological periodical on the publishing market in Poland and one of the oldest in Europe. According to the ranking of Polish archaeological magazines made in the last quarter of the 2002 by the Committee of Pre- and Proto-Historical Sciences of the Polish Academy of Science, during the last decade Wiadomości Archeologiczne were the most often quoted archaeological periodical in Poland and were evaluated highest among journals issued by archaeological museums.