National Museum of Slovenia

THE TREASURES OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF SLOVENIA

An exhibition by the National Museum of Slovenia, June 2004 - December 2006

The exhibition presents a selection of objects ranging from the Stone Age to the Medieval and Modern Periods. These represent the most important and most precious artifacts from the archaeological collections of the National Museum of Slovenia. One exceptional archaeological site, the Ljubljanica River, is specially featured, as it is a true treasury of history in terms of the quantity, type, and excellent preservation of the finds (around 5500 in the NMS). The selected artifacts are valuable for their material, workmanship, form, or state of preservation. They consist of items that are exceptional not merely in our museum collections, but also within Slovenia, throughout Europe, and even world-wide. Some exponents were treasures or were highly valued by the people who once used them in the past, whether for their usefulness and worth or their symbolic significance. On the other hand, certain individual objects are valuable as archaeological or historical sources, as a documentation of the past, particularly if they come from a context that allows them to "tell" their own tales from long ago. In this manner the exhibition gathers together objects that were found by chance or were acquired in an unofficial way with those that were discovered in archaeological excavations and are hence professionally documented, conserved, and studied. All of them are part of our museum collection and are part of our common cultural heritage.
This exhibit gathers together objects that were found by chance or acquired in an unprofessional manner (with metal detectors, for instance), along with those discovered in archaeological excavations that have consequently been recorded properly, conserved, and studied. All of them represent part of our museum collections and thus part of our collective cultural heritage.

The most important objects or groups of material:
1. Early Stone Age (Paleolithic): the Neanderthal flute
2. Late Stone Age (Neolithic): the earliest pottery vessels and stone tools
3. Copper Age (Eneolithic): vessels, metallurgical implements and products from the pile-dwelling sites in the Ljubljana Marshes
4. Bronze Age: hoards of bronze objects and semi-finished products (ingots)
5. Early Iron Age: the Vače situla, weapons of the Hallstatt princes, priceless vessels, and female jewellery from sites in Lower Carniola
6. Early and Late Iron Age: the first coinage
7. Late Iron Age: Celtic weapons and jewellery
8. Roman period: Roman military equipment, selected pottery, glass, and metal vessels (such as the askos from Polhov Gradec), Roman figurines, ivory dolls, coins
9. Late Antiquity: Early Christian objects
10. Early Medieval period: Germanic jewellery from Kranj, the hoard from Sebenje, Slavic jewellery
11. High and Late Middle Ages: finds from castles, weapons from the Ljubljanica River
12. High and Late Middle Ages. Modern period: valuable small finds
13. Archaeological site: the Ljubljanica River: various finds from all periods

The exhibition was conceived and prepared by: the Archaeology Department of the National Museum of Slovenia
Avtors: Neva Trampuž Orel, Peter Turk, Janka Istenič, Timotej Knific, Tomaž Nabergoj, with contributions by Alenka Miškec.
Project coordinator: : Tomaž Nabergoj.
Design and computer layout: Roman Hribar, Miran Pflaum.
Proof-reading: Irena Avsenik Nabergoj.
Translation: Barbara Smith-Demo.
Photographs: Tomaž Lauko in Igor Dolinar, Marko Habič, Srečo Habič, Jože Hanc, Katja Hrobat, Timotej Knific, Ciril Mlinar, Miran Pflaum, Nejc Saje, Marjan Smerke, Boris Vičič ter arhiv NMS.
Drawing backgrounds: Roman Hribar in Peter Beus, Peter Conolly, Ida Murgelj, Igor Rehar.
Preparation of material and documentation: Polona Bitenc, Barbara Jerin.
Conservation and restoration of material: Irma Langus, Gorazd Lemajič, Sonja Perovšek, Janja Slabe, Anita Virag.
Other contributors: Zoran Milić, Veronika Pflaum, Boštjan Pogorelc, Igor Ravbar, Andrej Šemrov, Nika Veršnik.

National Museum of Slovenia
Prešernova 20
SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija
Tel +386 1 24 14 400
Fax +386 1 24 14 422
E-mail: info@nms.si

The museum is open everyday from 10 am to 6 pm, and on Thursday to 8 pm. Closed on holidays.
Ticket office and museum store: Tel.: +386 1 24 14 472
Reservations for guided tours, working days between 8 and 12: Tel.: +386 1 24 14 469
Information: Tel.: +386 1 24 14 404

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