The Indiana University Zooarchaeology Laboratory (IUZL) was established in 1945 by Glenn A. Black and William R. Adams to support analysis of animal remains recovered from excavations at the extensive prehistoric Angel Mounds Site in southwest Indiana. With funding from various sources including Eli Lilly, Paul Weir, Georg Neuman, and Carl Voegelin, the enterprise grew quickly.
Adams spent many years building IUZL’s comparative skeletal collection, obtaining the first 2,500 specimens on his own. Beginning in 1947 Adams conducted preparatory work and identifications in his own basement. He was appointed to the IUB faculty in 1955 at which time the Laboratory was transferred to the Bloomington campus. In 1960 the growing size of the collection necessitated a move into a larger space on the fourth floor of Rawles Hall. Over the following years the IUZL comparative collection grew in size and scope, supporting student and faculty analyses of a number of archaeological collections. In 1991 the IUZL moved to its current location in the Student Building, allowing for continued expansion of the comparative skeletal collection In the proceeding years, IUZL personnel have worked to continually improve the Laboratory’s facilities and capabilities, including increasing storage capacity with mobile shelving, re-boxing specimens in acid-free boxes, updating specimen taxonomy, creating a searchable specimen database, and filling holes in the comparative collection with new taxa.
Until 1983 the focus of collection was on North American, primarily Midwestern, vertebrates. However, through an expansive specimen collection program involving faculty, staff, and students, the collection has grown to encompass species found across the globe. IUZL currently curates over 11,000 accessioned specimens, and the comparative collection has supported projects by researchers from wide range of fields including: zooarchaeology; paleontology; and evolutionary biology.