Housed in a grand building from 1888 – the same building as the Slovenian Museum of Natural History – highlights include the highly embossed Vače situla – a Celtic pail from the 6th century BC that was unearthed in a town east of Ljubljana. There's also a Stone Age bone flute discovered near Cerkno in western Slovenia in 1995. You'll find examples of Roman jewellery found in 6th-century Slavic graves, as well as a glass-enclosed Roman lapidarium outside to the north.

　　Check out the ceiling fresco in the foyer of the main building, which features an allegorical image of the ancient Slovenian province of Carniola surrounded by important Slovenes from the past, and the statues of the Muses and Fates relaxing on the stairway banisters. Note the entry to both this museum and the Slovenian Museum of Natural History are on the eastern side of the building, facing a park.