diff --git a/src/restic/index/index.go b/src/restic/index/index.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..9b7eed1da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/restic/index/index.go
@@ -0,0 +1,147 @@
+// Package index contains various data structures for indexing content in a repository or backend.
+package index
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"os"
+	"restic/backend"
+	"restic/debug"
+	"restic/pack"
+	"restic/repository"
+	"restic/worker"
+)
+
+// Pack contains information about the contents of a pack.
+type Pack struct {
+	Entries []pack.Blob
+}
+
+// Index contains information about blobs and packs stored in a repo.
+type Index struct {
+	Packs map[backend.ID]*Pack
+}
+
+func newIndex() *Index {
+	return &Index{
+		Packs: make(map[backend.ID]*Pack),
+	}
+}
+
+// New creates a new index for repo from scratch.
+func New(repo *repository.Repository) (*Index, error) {
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(done)
+
+	ch := make(chan worker.Job)
+	go repository.ListAllPacks(repo, ch, done)
+
+	idx := newIndex()
+
+	for job := range ch {
+		packID := job.Data.(backend.ID)
+		if job.Error != nil {
+			fmt.Fprintf(os.Stderr, "unable to list pack %v: %v\n", packID.Str(), job.Error)
+			continue
+		}
+
+		j := job.Result.(repository.ListAllPacksResult)
+
+		debug.Log("Index.New", "pack %v contains %d blobs", packID.Str(), len(j.Entries))
+
+		if _, ok := idx.Packs[packID]; ok {
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("pack %v processed twice", packID.Str())
+		}
+		p := &Pack{Entries: j.Entries}
+		idx.Packs[packID] = p
+	}
+
+	return idx, nil
+}
+
+const loadIndexParallelism = 20
+
+type packJSON struct {
+	ID    backend.ID `json:"id"`
+	Blobs []blobJSON `json:"blobs"`
+}
+
+type blobJSON struct {
+	ID     backend.ID    `json:"id"`
+	Type   pack.BlobType `json:"type"`
+	Offset uint          `json:"offset"`
+	Length uint          `json:"length"`
+}
+
+type indexJSON struct {
+	Supersedes backend.IDs `json:"supersedes,omitempty"`
+	Packs      []*packJSON `json:"packs"`
+}
+
+func loadIndexJSON(repo *repository.Repository, id backend.ID) (*indexJSON, error) {
+	fmt.Printf("process index %v\n", id.Str())
+
+	var idx indexJSON
+	err := repo.LoadJSONUnpacked(backend.Index, id, &idx)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
+	return &idx, nil
+}
+
+// Load creates an index by loading all index files from the repo.
+func Load(repo *repository.Repository) (*Index, error) {
+	debug.Log("index.Load", "loading indexes")
+
+	done := make(chan struct{})
+	defer close(done)
+
+	supersedes := make(map[backend.ID]backend.IDSet)
+	results := make(map[backend.ID]map[backend.ID]Pack)
+
+	for id := range repo.List(backend.Index, done) {
+		debug.Log("index.Load", "Load index %v", id.Str())
+		idx, err := loadIndexJSON(repo, id)
+		if err != nil {
+			return nil, err
+		}
+
+		res := make(map[backend.ID]Pack)
+		supersedes[id] = backend.NewIDSet()
+		for _, sid := range idx.Supersedes {
+			debug.Log("index.Load", "  index %v supersedes %v", id.Str(), sid)
+			supersedes[id].Insert(sid)
+		}
+
+		for _, jpack := range idx.Packs {
+			P := Pack{}
+			for _, blob := range jpack.Blobs {
+				P.Entries = append(P.Entries, pack.Blob{
+					ID:     blob.ID,
+					Type:   blob.Type,
+					Offset: blob.Offset,
+					Length: blob.Length,
+				})
+			}
+			res[jpack.ID] = P
+		}
+
+		results[id] = res
+	}
+
+	for superID, list := range supersedes {
+		for indexID := range list {
+			debug.Log("index.Load", "  removing index %v, superseded by %v", indexID.Str(), superID.Str())
+			delete(results, indexID)
+		}
+	}
+
+	idx := newIndex()
+	for _, packs := range results {
+		for id, pack := range packs {
+			idx.Packs[id] = &pack
+		}
+	}
+
+	return idx, nil
+}
diff --git a/src/restic/index/index_test.go b/src/restic/index/index_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ad15a6a25
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/restic/index/index_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,87 @@
+package index
+
+import (
+	"restic"
+	"restic/backend/local"
+	"restic/repository"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+var (
+	snapshotTime = time.Unix(1470492820, 207401672)
+	snapshots    = 3
+	depth        = 3
+)
+
+func createFilledRepo(t testing.TB, snapshots int) (*repository.Repository, func()) {
+	repo, cleanup := repository.TestRepository(t)
+
+	for i := 0; i < 3; i++ {
+		restic.TestCreateSnapshot(t, repo, snapshotTime.Add(time.Duration(i)*time.Second), depth)
+	}
+
+	return repo, cleanup
+}
+
+func TestIndexNew(t *testing.T) {
+	repo, cleanup := createFilledRepo(t, 3)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	idx, err := New(repo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("New() returned error %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if idx == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("New() returned nil index")
+	}
+}
+
+func TestIndexLoad(t *testing.T) {
+	repo, cleanup := createFilledRepo(t, 3)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	idx, err := Load(repo)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Load() returned error %v", err)
+	}
+
+	if idx == nil {
+		t.Fatalf("Load() returned nil index")
+	}
+}
+
+func openRepo(t testing.TB, dir, password string) *repository.Repository {
+	b, err := local.Open(dir)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("open backend %v failed: %v", dir, err)
+	}
+
+	r := repository.New(b)
+	err = r.SearchKey(password)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("unable to open repo with password: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	return r
+}
+
+func BenchmarkIndexNew(b *testing.B) {
+	repo, cleanup := createFilledRepo(b, 3)
+	defer cleanup()
+
+	b.ResetTimer()
+
+	for i := 0; i < b.N; i++ {
+		idx, err := New(repo)
+
+		if err != nil {
+			b.Fatalf("New() returned error %v", err)
+		}
+
+		if idx == nil {
+			b.Fatalf("New() returned nil index")
+		}
+	}
+}