For Immediate Release Media contacts: The Field Museum Greg Borzo 312/665-7106 gborzo@fieldmuseum.org Field Museum “reuniting” scattered collections from ancient Iraq site $100,000 grant allows scientists to virtually regroup archaeological materials from Kish, one of world’s first cities Archival video footage of 1928 excavation released for 1st time ever CHICAGO—The Field Museum is embarking on a two-year project that could help bridge cultural and scientific barriers exacerbated by the Iraq war. With the support of the National Endowment for the Humanities, the museum recently began to study, catalog and reconcile the scattered but priceless collections of materials from the famous 5,000-year-old archaeological site of Kish, 50 miles south of Baghdad. Kish is one of the world’s first cities. The first wheels anywhere were found at Kish; two are in The Field Museum’s collection. The museum plans to create a digital catalog of the more than 100,000 Kish artifacts held in Chicago, Oxford and Baghdad. The catalog will be made available in English and Arabic on the Internet and in print. Also, a more complete database of all the objects will be created and made available on the Internet. “This project will make possible, for the first time, a true reckoning of the site’s historical and archaeological significance,” said William Pestle, Field Museum Collection Manager and one of the principal investigators on this project. “It will also serve as a model for intellectual repatriation of exported archaeological collections.” Continue>>