Proto Elamite

The appearance of animal images on the archaeological remains is always considered as an evidence to determine their natural living and their role in human's cultural and ritual life. Animal imagery is found in every medium of art in the Proto Elamite period include stone statuette, pottery, metalwork and finally seal impressions. The glyptic art and pottery through their diversity and the nature of their symbols provide the researchers with the basic information with which to piece together the iconography and the social and economy history of the Proto Elamite period. This paper examines serpent, turtle and feline imageries and related pastiches on two media at Tepe Sofalin, including seal impressions and pottery fragments.

In the second half of the fourth millennium BC. Southwest Asia underwent social changes, the result of which was the emergence of writing. In these developments, the cuneiform script in the south of the Mesopotamia and the Proto Elamite in the Iranian plateau progressed rapidly to such an extent that at the beginning of Elamite was scattered throughout the Iranian plateau. These writing systems were used for administrative and accounting purposes, and despite the fact that most of their signs are different from each other; there are important similarities between the two. Chalcolithic era, the best period in which you can see the idea of trading's and keeping of account; for the first time in this course, tools are seen which called them Token; it seems that the tokens in a variety of forms and counting symbols refer to a specific concept. The end of this period coincides with the Proto Elamites era in the south and southwest of Iran. Domestic production in the Neolithic period gave his place to the production of a workshop in the Chalcolithic era, which causes a lot of production. In the present study, firstly, will be investigated, small clay counters and then the Proto Elamite texts.

From a temporal perspective, we observe the presence and distribution of beveled rim bowls in Iran and Mesopotamia from the mid-fourth millennium BC until the beginning of the Bronze Age. The large production and specific shape of this pottery, alongside its extensive distribution, have prompted many archaeologists to study this subject. Beveled rim bowls is categorized into two types: Uruk and proto Elamite, based on their shape and structure. The geographical conditions in Iran have differentiated the distribution of this pottery compared to Mesopotamia. During this period, the Uruk type gradually changed in structure and transformed into the proto Elamite type. The regions of Khuzestan, Central Zagros, and the Central Plateau have the highest density of sites and pottery in Iran, connecting these centers through intermediary areas. According to the studies conducted, this distribution in Iran has been exported to various other regions by local elites or specific groups of people. Perhaps, this group consisted of local merchants who, through migration, spread the proto Elamite culture in Iran, while the Uruk type of beveled rim bowl was produced and distributed for economic or political purposes in significant sites such as Susa, Chogha Mish, Tepe Yahya, Sefalin, and Godin Tepe.