The spaces of the former Habsburg San Tomaso barracks are dedicated to the National Archaeological Museum of Verona, where the very rich testimonies coming from the archaeological research carried out in the city of Verona and in the Verona area are housed, divided into a time span that goes from prehistory to protohistory, to Celtic phase, to Romanization, up to the Roman-Imperial age.

The headquarters, a court and military prison, was built by the Austrian administration, when the political events following the Carbonari uprisings made it necessary to detain an ever-increasing number of people. The complex, adjacent to the church of S. Tomaso Cantuariense, is divided into three buildings, organized around the internal courtyard, and consists of three floors and an attic. The building represents one of the best preserved examples of Austrian civil architecture in the city.

The exhibition itinerary of the Prehistory and Protohistory section narrates the main historical moments of the Veronese area, between 200,000 years ago and 100 BC

In general, the exhibition itinerary is divided into a series of subsections dedicated to the main eras of prehistory-protohistory of the Verona area, from the Paleolithic (represented by the famous painted stone, known as the "Shaman", coming from the Fumane Cave), passing through the Neolithic and the Copper Age, up to the Bronze Age, with the exhibition of materials from the UNESCO pile-dwelling sites in the Verona area, and the Iron Age.

The objective is to make people perceive the formative role of this territory in relation to the urban center of Verona, whose birth is the outcome of a long-lasting historical journey.

The exhibition develops in a unilinear way and without interference, starting from the orientation room (accessible from the staircase and the lift) through the different rooms of the two arms of the third floor (from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age) until it merges into the third arm (dedicated to the Iron Age). The section dedicated to the Roman age, which will occupy the second floor of the museum, is nearing completion.