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Choghā Mīsh (also Chogā Mīsh) () dating back to about 6800 BC, is the site of a Chalcolithic settlement located in the Khuzistan Province Iran on the eastern Susiana Plain. It was occupied at the beginning of 6800 BC and continuously from the Neolithic up to the Proto-Literate period (Uruk period), thus spanning the time periods from Archaic (7th millennium BC) through Proto-Elamite period (about 3100 BC to 2700 BC). After the decline of the site about 4400 BC, the nearby Susa, on the western Susiana Plain, became culturally dominant in this area. Chogha Mish is located just to the east of Dez River, and about 25 kilometers to the east from the ancient Susa. The similar, though much smaller site of Chogha Bonut lies six kilometers to the west.
Excavations were conducted at the site between 1961 and 1978, for a total of 11 seasons by the Oriental Institute and later including University of California at Los Angeles, under the direction of Pinhas Delougaz and Helene Kantor. At the uppermost levels were Elamite structures, including a fort, from early 2nd millennium BC times (generally called the Sukkalmah Dynasty period). Below this were found substantial remains from the Protoliterate period.[2] Helene Kantor and P. Delougaz, Chogha Mish, Volume 1, Text: The First Five Seasons, 1961-1971, Oriental Institute Publication 101, 1996, [3] Helene Kantor and P. Delougaz, Chogha Mish, Volume 1, Plates: The First Five Seasons, 1961-1971, Oriental Institute Publication 101, 1996, [4] Abbas Alizadeh, "Chogha Mish, Volume II. The Development of a Prehistoric Regional Center in Lowland Susiana, Southwestern Iran. Final Report on the Last Six Seasons of Excavations, 1972-1978", Oriental Institute Publications 130, 2008, Finds included uniform perforated stone disks, 4 to 5 centimeters in diameter, which are thought to be counters.Woods, Christopher, "The Abacus in Mesopotamia: Considerations from a Comparative Perspective", The First Ninety Years: A Sumerian Celebration in Honor of Miguel Civil, edited by Lluís Feliu, Fumi Karahashi and Gonzalo Rubio, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 416-478, 2017 A number of 4th millennium BC clay cylinder seal impressions were also found.Garfinkel, Yosef, "Later Examples from the Near East", in Dancing at the Dawn of Agriculture, New York, USA: University of Texas Press, pp. 269-290, 2003 Images on the seals are thought to include representations of spinning, weaving, and churning.Breniquet, Catherine, "Weaving, Potting, Churning: Women at work during the Uruk period: Evidence from the cylinder seals", in The Role of Women in Work and Society in the Ancient Near East, edited by Brigitte Lion and Cécile Michel, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, pp. 8-28, 2016 About a quarter million beveled rim bowl fragments were found, many in association with kilns. This pottery is the marker for Uruk period culture.Mayyas, A., et al., "Beeswax Preserved in a Late Chalcolithic Bevelled-Rim Bowl from the Tehran Plain, Iran", Iran, vol. 50, pp. 13–25, 2012 A notable find was a high quality Elamite cup made of soft bituminous stone. It was found in a pithoi burial jar placed in an old Protoliterate drain and the handle is carved into the form of a goat.Helene J. Kantor, "The Elamite Cup from Chogha Mish", Iran, vol. 15, pp. 11–14, 1977
Pottery kiln were found at Chogha Mish dating from the Middle Susiana 1 period (roughly comparable to Late Ubaid Period), to the Uruk period. A pottery kiln at Chogha Mish now provides the earliest known prototype for the Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia) kilns. This ribbed double-chamber kiln (found in Trench XXV) was oval in plan and measured about 2 meters long and about 1.3 meters wide. It shows close parallels to the Early Dynastic II and III examples at Abu Salabikh and the Diyala River region.Abbas Alizadeh, "A Protoliterate Pottery Kiln from Chogha Mish, Iran", vol. 23, pp. 39–50, 1985 DOI: 10.2307/4299752
Clay tokens were an early predecessor to writing. These were enclosed in hollow spheres of clay, envelopes, called bullae. About 135 of these tokens were found at Chogha Mish. They were of various shapes including small cones, spheres and discs. These tokens were common across the ancient Middle East in the early Uruk period c 3500–3200 BC. At least 28 envelopes, with seal impressions, were also found. Tokens and bullae were ephemeral in nature and almost always found in a secondary context as they were disposed of after use. Those found at Chogha Mish are contemporary with Uruk IV and the equivalent layer at Susa.Friberg, Jöran. "Preliterate counting and accounting in the Middle East: A constructively critical review of Schmandt-Besserat's Before Writing" Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, vol. 89, no. 5-6, 1994, pp. 477-502Schmandt-Besserat, Denise, "The Envelopes That Bear the First Writing", Technology and Culture, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 357–85, 1980 One "numerical tablet" of the Uruk V period was also found.Overmann, Karenleigh A., The Material Origin of Numbers: Insights from the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East, Piscataway, NJ, USA: Gorgias Press, Table 9.2, pp. 169-170, 2019
The excavation's dig house at Qaleh Khalil was destroyed during the Iranian Revolution so many finds and records were either lost or destroyed.[5] Abbas Alizadeh, Excavations at the Prehistoric Mound of Chogha Bonut, Khuzestan, Iran, Seasons 1976/77, 1977/78, and 1996, Oriental Institute Publications 120, 2003,
Chogha Mish provides important evidence for early connections between Susiana and Mesopotamia. The discoveries at Chogha Mish show that the Early Susiana period was contemporary with the Ubaid 1 period of southern Mesopotamia and the Samarra period of central Mesopotamia.
The Close-Line ware of Archaic Susiana 3 phase was contemporary with the Ubaid O phase, which antedates the previously known Ubaid sequence of southern Mesopotamia.[6] Y. Calvet, "The New Deep Sounding X 36 at Tell el ʿOueili", Sumer 44, pp. 67-87, 1985-86 The painted pottery of the Samarra period (contemporary with the Ubaid 1 = Eridu period in the south) in central Mesopotamia came later. According to archaeologists:[7] Abbas Alizadeh and Ali Mahfroozi, "Preliminary Report on the Joint ICHTO-Oriental Institute Excavations at KS-004 and KS-108 in Lowland Susiana, Southwestern Iran", Iranian Prehistoric Project, pp. 56-69, Oriental Institute 2004-2005 Annual Report
Prior to the fifth millennium B.C., Chogha Mish, with about 17 ha of occupation area, was the largest population center. Oriental Institute archaeological investigations at the site from 1969 to 1979 also showed increasing social and economic complexity until it was temporarily abandoned sometime in the early fifth millennium B.C., perhaps ca. 4800 BC.
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