Connecticut’s official natural history museum, based at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, was founded in 1982, established by state law in 1985, and opened that year to preserve and interpret the state’s natural and human past. Its collections include more than 6,000 natural history objects, such as fossils, minerals, shells, and taxidermied animals, highlighted by the Pope Mastodon excavated in 1913. It also houses the Office of State Archaeology, a major repository of Connecticut archaeology spanning one million years of human history and culture. After its physical galleries closed in 2016, it continued through outreach, education, and temporary exhibitions.