The Plain of Jars

[reader]

From News Corp Australia

The jars are spread across the plains and forests of the Laos' mountainous northern regions. Pictured area collection of

the jars in a forest. Picture: ANUSource:Supplied

 

The mysterious ‘Plain of Jars’ in Laos has long been a source of fascination to archaeologists and a site for tourists to visit.

Now, experts have revealed more of the site’s grisly secrets.

The stone jars, which are up to 10-feet tall, dot the landscape in Xieng Khouang Province in central Laos.

There are more than 2,100 of the tubular megalithic jars in the area, according to UNESCO, which has designated the ‘Plain of Jars’ a World Heritage site.

The strange megalithic structures were first explored in the 1930s, although only limited research has been done since then, according to experts writing in the journal Antiquity.

While it is known that the jars were used for “mortuary activity,” relatively little is known about the specifics of the human remains placed in the jars.

A 2016 excavation of an area known as “site 1” containing nearly 400 jars, however, has shed new light on the use of mysterious structures.

The research reveals “a range of mortuary practices, high rates of infant and child mortality, and new evidence dating these interments to the 9th to 13th centuries AD,” experts write, in the latest issue of the journal Antiquity.

Researchers found that over 60 per cent of the “mortuary population” at site 1 was less than 15 years of age, and almost half of those died at the fetal stage or in early infancy.

The high infant and fetal mortality noted at site 1 indicate that ill health and/or malnutrition was an issue for the local population, the researchers write.

While the remains of 18 individuals were found during a limited excavation of site 1, scientists from the Australian National University, the University of Melbourne, James Cook University, the University of Otago and the Laotian Department of Heritage say that thousands more may be interred there.

Continues with photos

https://www.news.com.au/travel/world-travel/asia/mysterious-plain-of-jars-may-be-the-burial-place-for-thousands-of-dead-babies-and-children-experts-say/news-story/18be4a1c208184f4cce86d944aabcf32

[vinapu]

I was there in 2013 and found the place fascinating. I hired  car with driver in Luang Prabang for long day trip but it was not a good idea and it's long trip albeit very scenic. Going back was scary because driver made impression that he is falling asleep behind the wheel but we made it.

Recommended but I advise to plan to stay at least one  night near the site. 

few pictures

 

[Uranus]

Me and my partner rented a 4WD in January and drove north towards Phonsavan via the eastern route. We made an overnight stay in a small village along the way. Roads were fairly good, save for a few kilometres with gravel roads due to roadwork. But, with the road full of chicken, cats, dogs, cows, and children we could hardly drive faster than 40 km/h. After Phonsavan and looking at some of the jars, we took the western route via the banana pancake town of Vang Vieng on the return to Vientiane. Here, the road up until it joined highway 13 (Vientiane-Luang Prabang "highway") was surfaced, but it was a long and winding road. We stopped in a small town about 54 km north of Vang Vieng, and spent the night in a local hotel. No English spoken in neither of the small towns. Road 13 is in a dismal state (picture below), and the heavy truck traffic made it worse. I believe this is the main transport route from Vientiane into China. We did it in three days,, two nights, all in all a lovely trip.

[vinapu]

7 hours ago, Uranus said:

. Road 13 is in a dismal state (picture below), and the heavy truck traffic made it worse. I believe this is the main transport route from Vientiane into China. 

 

wait until they complete that railway being built

[Vessey]

I would love to visit and see these (pictures from Google), 

I hadn't realised just how big these stone jars were and the huge tasks there must have been in hewing the blocks of stone, shaping them with primitive tools, and then transporting them to where they are now, and therefore the Civilisation that generated them?

My long, long time lad of many years standing is from Laos and knows Phonsovan and these jars well - I feel a field-trip coming up next holiday  

[Guest]

I visited the plain of Jars a couple of years ago.   

I took the bus to Vian Vieng, spent one night there, then took a bus onto Phonsovan. However, at the time, it would have made more sense to take a bus direct from Vientiane, which takes a better road, as I discovered when leaving to go south.  Although the bus driver seemed to think he should drive like Lewis Hamilton.

I imagine that even with the imminent arrival of the railway link to Viang Vieng, a direct bus from Vientiane would be better.  

Pictures:  Jars, goats and evidence of US excavation work (conducted via explosives dropped from altitude)