Definition: The archaeological site of Chogha Mish is located in the Khuzistan Province of Iran (Susiana Plain). It was occupied first beginning about 6800 BC and continuously from the Neolithic up to the Proto-Literate period.
Chogha Mish was a regional center during the late Uruk period of Mesopotamia; and is important today for information about the development of writing. At Chogha Mish, evidence begins with an accounting system using clay tokens, over time changing to clay tablets with marks, finally to cuneiform writing system.
Excavations were conducted at the site in the mid-twentieth century by the Oriental Institute, under the direction of Pierre Delougaz and Helene Kantor.
Chogha Mish was a regional center during the late Uruk period of Mesopotamia; and is important today for information about the development of writing. At Chogha Mish, evidence begins with an accounting system using clay tokens, over time changing to clay tablets with marks, finally to cuneiform writing system.
Excavations were conducted at the site in the mid-twentieth century by the Oriental Institute, under the direction of Pierre Delougaz and Helene Kantor.
Sources
Delougaz, P., A. Alizadeh and H.J. Kantor. 1996. Chogha Mish: the first five seasons of excavations 1961-1971. Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, Chicago.
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. 1981. Decipherment of the Earliest Tablets. Science 211(4479)283-285
This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
