Archeological Museum of KSU is one of the biggest and oldest museums of Russian universities. Its foundation started in 1810 when first coins and rarities were acquired. The activity of the Numismatic (so called Munzkabinet) and Rarity Cabinets was the Museum's foundation during the first half of the 19th century. Already by the mid 19th century the Museum possesses one of the biggest numismatic collections of Europe. In 1860s Cabinet-Museums unite to form the Museum of Rarities, Fine Arts and Numismatics. Based on the exhibition of the 4th Archeological Conference in 1878, the Museum of the Society of Archeology, History and Ethnography was formed. Both Museums existed until 1929 when they were closed and the major part of exhibits was given to the State Central Museum of Tatariya (now - National Museum of Tatarstan). In 1978 the possibility emerged of restoration the Archeological Museum of Kazan University based on the Archeological Cabinet. The Museum's collection has 4 thousand exhibits and reflects the history and archeology of the Volga and Kama Region in the ancient times and Middle Ages. The collection of the Museum is also presented at temporary exhibitions in this country and abroad. The total number of collections in Museum funds is 315 or 60,000 keeping units. The biggest collections of the Museum are tools from the Stone Age, collection of Ananyinsky culture and medieval sources from the Middle Volga and Urals regions. The following materials can be called the pride of the Museum: excavations from the Turaevsky burial mount (dated by 4-5th century), Bolshe-Tigansky old Hungarian burial mount, Bolshe-Tarkhansky early Bulgarian burial mount. Collections from Siberia, Middle Asia, Northern Caucasus as well as archeological materials from Ancient Greece, Rome and Switzerland. Many materials are real pieces of art, e.g. an Iranian cup of highly glazed pottery from Bilar, collection of Oriental gala armory, etc.

    The Museum has over one hundred articles from "The Golden Fund". [K.Fuchs, A.Likhachev, F.Erdman and others participated in creating the Museum's Fund. The Museum has over a hundred objects of "The Golden Fund". The following people participated in collecting the Museum: H.Fren, K.Fuchs, A.Likhachev, F.Erdman, A.Stukenberg, N.Vysotsky, M.Khudyakov, N.Katanov. Since 1946 the stocks of the Museum were replenished by materials form annual archeological expeditions of Kazan University (leaders N.Kalinin, A.Khalikov, V.Gening, Ye.Khalikova, S.Valiullina). The Museum is an educational and research institution. The main exhibition presents wide-ranged illustrations on general archeology, anthropology, ancient and medieval history, history of archeological science at Kazan University, as well as the following courses of specialization "Medieval towns of the Middle Volga", "Archeology of Volga Bulgaria", "Methods of natural science in archeology". The collections of the Museum are researched and restored with the participation of students. It is a good tradition in the Archeological Museum to regularly conduct scientific conferences on urgent problems of archeology in the Middle Volga area. The Museum's Funds are studied by scientists from Russia, Finland, Hungary, Turkey, Ukraine, Japan and others