The dataset consists of digitised copies of original Kodachrome diapositives taken during the 1988 and 1989 seasons of excavation at the site of Jemdet Nasr, located in southern Iraq (32.717°N 44.779°E). The excavation was carried out in 1988 and 1989 under the direction of Roger J. Matthews. The excavation was funded by the British School of Archaeology in Iraq, of which Matthews was the director at the time. The diapositives include stills of fieldwork activity, archaeological features, objects in situ and after processing in the on-site laboratory, as well as images of local individuals building a traditional reed house and stills of sealing impressions taken by Matthews at the Iraq Museum in Baghdad (mainly dating to the 4th millennium BC). Due to the onset of the Gulf War in 1990, excavations were halted permanently and only preliminary reports were published of the two seasons. The purpose of the digitisation project is to allow for better integration of the material through open access publication and a dedicated website .