The Museum, housed in the prestigious location of Palazzo Loffredo , presents to the public the results of the important research carried out in central-northern Basilicata and, at the same time, constitutes the showcase of the complex archaeological reality of a region that has been a privileged place for the encounter between people of lineage. and of different culture. The Museum is articulated on two floors according to a chronological and territorial criterion that offers the visitor the archaeological picture of the entire region, from the previous phase to the Greek colonization up to the Roman conquest, with an in-depth study on the territory of Potenza. Particular attention is paid to the findings of Vaglio, from which come rich funerary objects, datable between the end of the sixth and the middle of the fifth century BC. The most significant evidence regarding the occupation of internal Basilicata during the fourth century BC by the Lucanians are were returned from the sanctuary of Rossano di Vaglio: embossed sheets, fragments of bronze statues, gold and silver jewels, marble and terracotta statuettes are the most precious ex-votos, exhibited in the Museum with a particularly suggestive layout.

The Museum, located inside the Frederick's castle of Melfi, presents the important archaeological documentation found in the Vulture-Melfese area. The funerary equipment dates back to the Archaic age and returned refined Daunian ceramics with geometric decoration, bronze armor, precious ornaments in silver, gold and amber as well as bronze vases of both Greek and Etruscan production.

The classical section focuses on extraordinary finds from the 4th-3rd century BC including Magna Graecia red-figure pottery and monumental polychrome decorated vases with applied figures, of Canosian production, found in Lavello (the ancient Forentum). The Roman phase is documented by an exceptional 2nd century AD marble sarcophagus with relief decoration, referable to workshops in Asia Minor which has the deceased "sleeper" on the lid and Roman gods and heroes on the side plates framed in niches.