Modern-day Iraq contains relics from some of the world's oldest cities and is often referred to as the "cradle of civilisation". Anecdotal reports and helicopter flyovers suggested the looting of artifacts has been widespread.

To find the extent of the problem, archaeologist Elizabeth Stone at Stony Brook University in New York examined images from Digital Globe Corporation, a private satellite imaging company. The looming conflict sparked DGC's interest in Iraq and from February 2003 it took many high-resolution images of the country.

She says 15.75 square kilometres of land have been intensively looted, including 213 archaeological sites. This is an area many times greater than all the archeological excavations undertaken in southern Iraq