Experts go east to preserve Iraqi sites

A Scottish-based team of experts leading a heritage project in the Middle East is to receive more than £300,000 from a UK government fund.

The University of Glasgow team is working on a scheme to preserve archaeological sites up to 10,000 years old in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

Receiving a cash boost to the tune of £301,178, it is one of nine overseas projects being given financial support in a funding round from the Cultural Protection Fund, UK ministers have announced.

The fund supports the conservation of international cultural heritage sites threatened by conflict in countries across the Middle East and north Africa, and more than £3 million is being released in this funding round.

The Glasgow team will be tasked with documenting and monitoring the damage in Garmian region, using satellite and aerial technology, before recommending how the site should be best preserved. They will also train local archaeologists and work with teachers in the area to highlight cultural heritage.

The Garmian region suffered damage under Saddam Hussein’s regime in the 1990s.