More Megalithic Jars Mapped in Laos

News May 21, 2019

(ANU)
SHARE:
Laos Megalithic jars
(ANU)

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA—Live Science reports that a new survey conducted in central Laos by a team of archaeologists from Laos and Australia revealed an additional 137 stone jars at 15 new sites in the rugged terrain surrounding the Plain of Jars. The giant, carved stone jars are thought to have been used in burial rituals some 2,500 years ago. Researchers have suggested that bodies may have been stored in the jars until the bones could be cleaned and buried. Archaeologist Louise Shewan of Monash University said the newly mapped jars indicate that such burial practices may have been more widespread than previously thought. The jars were probably carved in quarries and transported to the forested mountain sites, said Shewan’s codirector on the project, Dougald O’Reilly of Australian National University. Near the jars, the researchers uncovered stone disks carved with images of animals and geometric designs buried with the carved side face down. Decorative ceramics, glass beads, iron tools, decorative disks worn in the ears, spindle whorls, and miniature clay jars were also uncovered. To read in-depth about the Plain of Jars, go to “Letter from Laos: A Singular Landscape.”

  • Features March/April 2019

    Sicily’s Lost Theater

    Archaeologists resume the search for the home of drama in a majestic Greek sanctuary

    Read Article
    (Giuseppe Cavaleri)
  • Letter From Texas March/April 2019

    On the Range

    Excavations at a ranch in the southern High Plains show how generations of people adapted to an iconic Western landscape

    Read Article
    (Eric A. Powell)
  • Artifacts March/April 2019

    Medieval Seal Stamp

    Read Article
    (Rikke Caroline Olsen/The National Museum of Denmark)
  • Digs & Discoveries March/April 2019

    Fairfield’s Rebirth in 3-D

    Read Article
    (Virginia Department of Historic Resources)