New Radiocarbon Evidence from Shahdad and the Oldest Datable Linear Elamite Text

In this paper, we report two 14C-AMS dates obtained from samples of lead-based cosmetics found in two graves of Cemetery A at Shahdad (Kerman, Iran). These new dates, combined with ceramic comparisons, are strong evidence of the use of this graveyard for most of the 3rd millennium BCE. The oldest of the two funerary contexts — Grave 30 — dated by radiocarbon analysis between the 30th and the 27th century BCE, also contained a ceramic vessel bearing a Linear Elamite inscription, which can thus be attributed to the early 3rd millennium BCE. This contradicts the traditional view that this writing system was created at the time of Puzur-Shushinak.