The zooarchaeological collection of Vilnius University was formed from two sources. The collection of animal bones was started at the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy (LVA) in the last decade. This initial and scattered collection was transferred to Vilnius University in spring of 2016, after official order by the Ministry of Culture. The other part of the collection consists of dr. G. Piličiauskienė carefully collected fauna remains. Combining these two collections, it became the largest in Lithuania. An inventory of zooarchaeological material from LVA has shown that about 2,000 kg of animal bones are not worth further storage; the latter had no metrics, were mixed with bones from different areas, or fauna remains from mixed surface layers with finds from very different periods, including the 20th century.
An inventory of the zooarchaeological collection revealed that about 6,000 kg of animal remains dating from the late Mesolithic to the 20th century are stored in the University repository. The collection is constantly being replenished, so these numbers are variable. The zooarchaeology laboratory stores a comparative collection, while the premises are perfectly suitable for the classical zooarchaeological research. Students of archaeology are taught the basics of zooarchaeology, hopefully encouraging the new generation of archaeologists in proper collection of bones.
