A carbon-containing aluminum nitride sintered compact comprising an aluminum nitride matrix and, incorporated therein, a carbon which has peaks appearing in the vicinity of 1580 cm and 1355 cm as measured by the laser Raman spectrometry. The carbon-containing aluminum nitride sintered compact does not suffer from a short circuit due to its satisfactorily high volume resistivity of at least 1 x 10 OMEGA • cm in a high temperature region of 200 DEG C or higher (for example, 500 DEG C or so), is excellent in hiding properties, is increased with respect to radiant heat and can secure high accuracy in the measurement by a surface thermometer.