Legal proceedings to return two collections of Achaemenid clay seals and tablets from the Chogha Mish archaeological site in Khuzestan have been concluded, Mehr News quoted the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO), Masud Soltanifar as saying. The ancient artifacts, which are currently in the US, should be returned to Iran in the next Iranian calendar year (starting 21 March), Soltanifar said during the inauguration ceremony of the Khorasan Razavi Museum. The legal affairs have been under the auspices of the presidential office of international affairs. Chogha Mish mound dates back to 6,800 BC. The remains of a Chalcolithic settlement were discovered on the site. During the late Uruk period, Chogha Mish was a regional center. The site yielded important information about the evolution of writing, beginnings with an accounting system with clay tokens, changing over time to marked clay tablets, and finally to the cuneiform writing system.
