Iraqi Kurdistan’s heritage in the face of regional development: state of preservation of archaeological sites and damage assessment – preliminary report

Abstract

The five-year Upper Greater Zab Archaeological Reconnaissance (UGZAR) project was initiated in 2012 as one of a number of survey projects in the Iraqi Kurdistan aimed at, among others, damage assessment of archaeological sites and new threats to the preservation of these sites, resulting from Iraqi Kurdistan’s recent rapid development. The database produced within the frame of the UGZAR project can be used in heritage management. The paper presents the project’s interim results and discusses the main factors endangering archaeological sites in Iraqi Kurdistan today.