Year Zero for the Archaeology of Iraq: Some Additional Comments

Abstract

Roger Matthews has raised a number of fundamental issues, and I would like to augment one or two of the points he has made before going on to look in more detail at the future of the British School of Archaeology in Iraq (BSAI). A new start is desperately needed in Iraq: such a start needs, among many other things, to include a massive training programme for existing staff in the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage. International sanctions have prevented Iraqis from attending any form of training or education outside their own country. Their access to new technology, especially computer-based technology has been virtually nil. When the State Board for Antiquities and Heritage is up and running again and has had the time to decide on its priorities, it is very much to be hoped that the international community will facilitate further training in a wide variety of areas. These will probably include conservation, computer studies, new surveying and GIS techniques, and a raft of museum and heritage studies. Some plans are already in place, but practical difficulties – in getting travel documents for example – and in acquiring basic foreign languages, mean that no training has yet taken place. When the security situation improves it may prove more cost-effective for people to travel to Baghdad to provide introductory courses there, and the BSAI would hope to be involved in any such programme.