Proto-elamite script is the world's oldest undeciphered writing system from Iran.It was used during the Early Bronze Age over a brief period of time (ca.3100-2900 BC) and is thought to have developed from early Cuneiform. It is uncertain whether it is the direct predecessor of Linear Elamite, as both remain undeciphered. Consequently, whether or not the language it can be said to represent is indeed Elamite is still a mystery. Clay tablets with Proto-Elamite writing have been found at various sites across Iran, the majority of which were unearthed at Susa. The known corpus consists of 1600 of such tablets, and the language itself consists of more than 1000 signs. It is thought to be partly logographic(as only some signs are images of the objects they represent), and is written in a sequential style; numerical signs follow the signs for the objects they count.

Attempts to decipher the script have led to recent technological breakthroughs by a team of Oxford University academics. Dr Jacob Dahl, fellow of Wolfson College (Oxford University) and director of the Ancient World Research Cluster, has a developed a Reflectance Transformation Imaging System to create a virtual 3D image of the script on clay tablets. These images will be made publicly available online in the hope of making further breakthroughs via sheer teamwork and theory-sharing.