Compartmented pendant with a bull's head

Proto-Elamic civilization existed presumably from 3300 to 2800 BC in the territory of Southern Mesopotamia. It was characterized by inscriptions on clay tablets in the so-called Proto-Elamic script. Since this writing has not yet been deciphered, the Proto-Elamic civilization is traditionally regarded as separate from the later Elam whose writing has been read. The Proto-Elamic civilization was strongly influenced by the Sumerian culture, which later spread across territories from Mesopotamia to Central Asia and presumably to Afghanistan. Archaeological layers of Proto-Elamic civilization have been identified in the excavations of the city of Uruk, where the earliest layers show the existence of an independent culture, which at a later time was already under the influence of the Sumerian culture. In fact, it is assumed that the Proto-Elamic culture in its later version echoes the achievements of the Sumerian culture. Subsequently, the Proto-Elamic culture and its bearers, while on the "primordial homeland" in Mesopotamia it assimilated with other late cultures, finally established itself in the territory of modern southwestern Iran and moved into the archaeological layer, known as the Elamite culture.