diff --git a/index/README.txt b/index/README.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5aafa53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/index/README.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+========================================
+Indexed Collections for Various Purposes
+========================================
+
+Multikey Dictionaries
+=====================
+
+A MultiKeyDict is a dictionary that expects its keys to be tuples.
+
+  >>> from cybertools.index.multikey import MultiKeyDict
+  >>> registry = MultiKeyDict()
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html',)] = 'global index.html'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html',)]
+  'global index.html'
+
+So this would be nothing special - any dictionary is able to provide this
+functionality; but a MultiKeyDict has some fallback mechanisms for retrieving
+objects only partly fitting the requested key:
+
+  >>> registry.get(('index.html', 'topic', 'zope3', 'Custom'))
+  'global index.html'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'topic', 'zope3', 'Custom')]
+  'global index.html'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'topic',)] = 'index.html for type "topic"'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'topic', 'zope3', 'Custom')]
+  'index.html for type "topic"'
+
+It is also possible to keep intermediate parts of a key variable by
+setting them to None:
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', None, None, 'Custom')] = 'Global index.html for Custom skin'
+
+The more on the left a matching key part is the higher is its priority:
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'topic', 'zope3', 'Custom')]
+  'index.html for type "topic"'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'task', 'bugfixes', 'Custom')]
+  'Global index.html for Custom skin'
+
+
+  >>> registry[('edit.html', 'topic', 'zope3', 'Custom')] = 'very special edit.html'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'task', 'bugfixes', 'Custom')]
+  'Global index.html for Custom skin'
+
+  >>> registry[('index.html', 'topic', 'zope3', 'Custom')]
+  'index.html for type "topic"'
+
+  >>> registry.get(('edit.html', 'task', 'bugfixes', 'Custom'))
+
diff --git a/index/__init__.py b/index/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..38314f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/index/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+"""
+$Id$
+"""
diff --git a/index/multikey.py b/index/multikey.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d0fd80d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/index/multikey.py
@@ -0,0 +1,84 @@
+#
+#  Copyright (c) 2006 Helmut Merz helmutm@cy55.de
+#
+#  This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+#  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+#  the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+#  (at your option) any later version.
+#
+#  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+#  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+#  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+#  GNU General Public License for more details.
+#
+#  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+#  along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+#  Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
+#
+
+"""
+Dictionaries with multiple keys.
+
+$Id$
+"""
+
+_not_found = object()
+_default = object()
+
+class MultiKeyDict(dict):
+
+    def __init__(self, **kw):
+        super(MultiKeyDict, self).__init__(**kw)
+        self.singleKeyDict = {}
+
+    def __setitem__(self, key, value):
+        assert type(key) is tuple
+        super(MultiKeyDict, self).__setitem__(key, value)
+        for n, k in enumerate(key):
+            if k:
+                entry = self.singleKeyDict.setdefault((n, k), [])
+                if value not in entry:
+                    entry.append((key, value))
+
+    def __getitem__(self, key):
+        r = self.get(key, _default)
+        if r is _default:
+            raise KeyError(key)
+        return r
+
+    def get(self, key, default=None):
+        assert type(key) is tuple
+        kl = list(key)
+        while kl:
+            r = super(MultiKeyDict, self).get(tuple(kl), _not_found)
+            if r is not _not_found:
+                return r
+            kl.pop()
+        return default
+
+    def get(self, key, default=None):
+        assert type(key) is tuple
+        firstTry = super(MultiKeyDict, self).get(key, _not_found)
+        # fast return for full match:
+        if firstTry is not _not_found:
+            return firstTry
+        collector = {}
+        for n, k in enumerate(key):
+            rList = self.singleKeyDict.get((n, k), [])
+            for r in rList:
+                skip = False
+                for nx, kx in enumerate(r[0]):
+                    if kx and kx != key[nx]: # if stored key elements are present
+                        skip = True          # they must match
+                        break
+                if skip:
+                    continue
+                entry = collector.setdefault(r[1], [])
+                entry.append(n)
+        if not collector:
+            return default
+        #print 'collector', collector
+        results = sorted((-len(value), value, o) for o, value in collector.items())
+        #print 'sorted', results
+        return results[0][2]
+
diff --git a/index/tests.py b/index/tests.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b9e2484
--- /dev/null
+++ b/index/tests.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#! /usr/bin/python
+
+"""
+Tests for the 'cybertools.index' package.
+
+$Id$
+"""
+
+import unittest, doctest
+from zope.testing.doctestunit import DocFileSuite
+
+from cybertools.index import multikey
+
+
+class Test(unittest.TestCase):
+    "Basic tests for the index package."
+
+    def testBasicStuff(self):
+        pass
+
+
+def test_suite():
+    flags = doctest.NORMALIZE_WHITESPACE | doctest.ELLIPSIS
+    return unittest.TestSuite((
+                DocFileSuite('README.txt', optionflags=flags),
+                unittest.makeSuite(Test),
+            ))
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main(defaultTest='test_suite')