You could also be acquainted with the majestic Angkor Wat, the traditional city of Ayutthaya, the historic San Agustin Church or the enduring Singapore Botanic Gardens. But have you ever discovered the Plain of Jars in Laos?
The Plain of Jars is a mysterious megalithic-era archaeological site, decorated with 1000’s of ancient stone jars dotting the rocky landscape, hiding the secrets of an ancient civilization, perfect for historians and travelers.
The site, with roughly 2,000 megalithic stone jars, is positioned in Xiengkhuang, Xiangkhouang Province, Laos, and was recently inscribed on the Southeast Asian World Cultural Heritage List and recognized by UNESCO. Luang Prabang was the primary city to be listed in 1995, followed by Vat Phou, which was included within the list in 2001.
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According to the official website of the Plain of Jars, it’s recorded that archaeologists have examined 129 sites with stone jars. It was first discovered by Madeleine Colani, a French archaeologist, within the Thirties during her exploration of the Xiangkhouang region in Laos. The sites themselves date to the period between 500 BC and 500 AD, also often known as the Iron Age (and possibly as late as 800 AD), quoted from UNESCO World Heritage Convention.
Two similar sites will also be present in Assam in northeastern India, where the geography and environment are almost an identical to the Laotian plateau, and the megalithic urns in Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, namely Kalambas, a big stone vat, are also much like the urns in Laos .
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Some of those megalithic tubular stone jars can reach enormous sizes, as much as 3 meters high and 1 meter wide, and weigh several tons. Interestingly, along with the jars, human bones and stone disks were also discovered near the location.
Not surprisingly, many archaeologists consider that the jars served as prehistoric burial places or for funerary practices throughout the Iron Age. Others suggest that the jars can have served as distillation vessels during early funerary rites. According to this theory, the body is placed in a jar to decompose after which transferred to a crematorium. Once the stays had completely decomposed, they were returned to the urn and the method was repeated with a brand new corpse.
Can you imagine how much effort it took to bury the body of a loved one in precedent days? Beginning with the creation of jars, iron chisels and technological skills were used to provide them after which moved from quarries to burial sites.
However, intriguing local legends say that the jars were used to brew rice wine for the victorious giants or to store whiskey for the large within the mountains above Phonsavan. That is why the reality stays a mystery to at the present time.
What makes it much more special is that it’s positioned not only on the historic crossroads of two major Iron Age cultures in Southeast Asia – the Mekong River and the Gulf of Tonkin – but in addition in an especially strategic location throughout the Long War in Southeast Asia Eastern, where there have been several airports on this area. As a results of the past war, several unexploded ordnances are still present in places that weren’t detonated and left unexplored.
Fortunately, history buffs and visitors interested by one other side of Laos history can now easily explore these megalithic jars on the Plain of Jars Visitor Center, where you’ll be able to visit the foremost sites of the Plain of Jars (e.g. Site 1, Site 2 and Site 3) by joining a tour guided tour that also provides detailed insight into the history and knowledge in regards to the jars.
Another option is to explore on your individual, renting a motorcycle or private vehicle in the event you want more flexibility in exploring the Jars and the encircling area. Additionally, one of the best time to go to is the dry season from November to March, when the weather is good and the roads are more accessible.
Are you interested and able to discover this lesser-known place in Laos and add it to your next adventure list? Or possibly you will try to find the history of the Plain of Jars like all other archaeologist?
