After the decline of the site about 4400 BC, the nearby Susa, on the western Susiana Plain, became culturally dominant in this area.

[1] Excavations were conducted at the site between 1961 and 1978, for a total of 11 seasons by the Oriental Institute and later including University of California at Los Angeles, under the direction of Pinhas Delougaz and Helene Kantor.

At the uppermost levels were Elamite structures, including a fort, from early 2nd millennium BC times (generally called the Sukkalmah Dynasty period).

It was found in a pithoi burial jar placed in an old Protoliterate drain and the handle is carved into the form of a goat.

It shows close parallels to the Early Dynastic II and III examples at Abu Salabikh and the Diyala River region.

It grew into its maximum size of 17 hectares in the Late Susiana period, roughly at the beginning of the 5th millennium BC.

This destruction of Chogha Mish also coincided with the abandonment of some other sites on the eastern part of the Susiana plain.

Occupation resumed in the early 2nd millennium BC during the Sukkalmah Dynasty period at a lesser level with about one third of the site occupied, primarily a large fort.

According to archaeologists: "Prior to the fifth millennium B.C., Chogha Mish, with about 17 ha of occupation area, was the largest population center.

Oriental Institute archaeological investigations at the site from 1969 to 1979 also showed increasing social and economic complexity until it was temporarily abandoned sometime in the early fifth millennium B.C., perhaps ca.