Archaeological Mystery Deepens as More ‘Jars of the Dead’ Uncovered in Laos

An ancient burial practice involving the use of goods and services of massive stone jars seems to have been more far-flung in Southeast Asia than once assumed , owe to a surprising treasure trove of raw discoveries in Laos .

A team of archeologist co - lead by Dougald O’Reilly from Australian National University , with help from Lao government functionary , have discovered 15 new megalithic sites in Laos curb 137 antecedently unnamed stone jounce that are thought to have been related , in some way , to electric pig of the dead . The sites , which date stamp back 1,000 years , are situate in a remote hilly forest , expanding the geographical area in which these monuments are find oneself in Laos .

“ These fresh land site have really only been visited by the occasional Panthera tigris hunter , ” say ANU Ph.D. student Nicholas Skopal , a Centennial State - leader of the team , in an ANUstatement . “ Now we ’ve rediscover them , we ’re hop-skip to ramp up a clean photo about this culture and how it disposed of its drained . ”

The ‘Jars of the Dead’ in a forest in Laos.

The ‘Jars of the Dead’ in a forest in Laos.Image: (ANU)

These so - predict ‘ Jars of the Dead ’ have been known since the 19th hundred , but Gallic archaeologist Madeleine Colani was the first to conduct a scientific investigation of the monuments , which she did in the thirties . Thousands of the megalithic structure have been establish in the Plain of Jars , an surface area concentrated along the central plain of Xiangkhoang Plateau in northern Laos . The jars measure a few feet across and date back to Laos ’ Iron Age ( 500 BCE to 500 CE ) . Colani , and the archaeologists who stick to in her footsteps believe they were used during ancient inhumation practices , either to temporarily hold a deceased someone , or to serve as a secondary gravesite . Or perchance both . These jolt , and others like them in India and Indonesia , are suggestive of a complex circle of sepulture practice involving various stages of decomposition , which ancient people may have associated with various religious or metaphysical phases of death .

But archaeologists have long puzzled over the accurate intent of the jars . To compound the problem , researchers do n’t even eff which civilisation built these megaliths .

“ It ’s apparent the jars , some weighing several t , were chip at in quarries , and somehow enthral , often several kilometre to their present emplacement , ” enounce O’Reilly in the ANU statement . “ But why these site were chosen as the terminal resting place for the jar is still a mystery . On top of that we ’ve got no grounds of occupation in this region . ”

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A jar found in Laos.Image: (ANU)

As noted , the statistical distribution of the jars looks like more widespread than previously assumed , which suggests whatever entombment practice they were relate to was also more common . Also , some intricately chip at discs were find positioned around the jars , maybe serving as interment markers , accord to the researchers . The discs , which were put face down for some obscure reason , were beautify with pommel , homocentric circles , animal imagery and human figures . concord to O’Reilly , decorative carvings around these gargantuan jars are quite rare . The research worker are n’t sure why some monuments were deck and others were not , and why some had geometrical designs as contradict to other imagery .

Intriguingly , the archaeologist also found miniature jars made of Lucius Clay , which greatly resembled the larger jar . O’Reilly said he ’d “ hump to do it why these citizenry represented the same jars in which they place their dead , in miniature to be swallow up with their all in . ” Other artifact found near the jars let in ornamental ceramics , glass bead , iron putz , earring , and spindle helix for make cloth .

reckon onwards , the researchers are hoping to extract DNA from bodies found buried nearby concord to apaperpublished last year , and to direct a comparative analysis of like megalithic jars from the Assam region of India and Sulawesi in Indonesia .

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