Excavation of a massive stone vessel on Laos’ Plain of Jars reveals the remains of at least 37 people interred within, offering insight into the mortuary traditions of early communities in the region and reshaping our understanding of one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling ancient landscapes.
Hundreds of stone jars, some weighing several tonnes, are scattered across the remote uplands of northern Laos. Despite being researched for nearly a century, their purpose remains uncertain.
“Archaeologists generally agree they were used in mortuary rituals, but we don’t know how they were exactly used, who made them or how old they are”, says Dr Nicholas Skopal from James Cook University, who co-led the study with the Lao Department of Heritage representative, Souilya Bounxayhip.
To finally answer these questions, the researchers excavated one exceptionally large jar, measuring 1.3 metres high and over 2 metres wide, located northeast of the Laotian town of Phonsavan.
Inside, they uncovered a substantial volume of densely packed human bones, consisting of the remains of at least 37 people.
Radiocarbon dating of bone and teeth samples from the jar indicates that it was used over a long period of time, possibly up to 270 years, with multiple phases of use.
“We determined that it was an example of secondary internment during the 9th and 12th centuries AD, in which human remains were deposited after an initial period of decomposition elsewhere”, Dr Skopal explains.
This challenges earlier assumptions that the jars were intended as final resting places and that they dated to the Southeast Asian Iron Age (500 BC – AD 500).
“The number of individuals also suggests the jars were owned by family or extended family groups,” adds Dr Skopal. “They likely served as places where ancestral rites were performed over generations.”
Additionally, glass beads from within the jar were chemically analysed and found to have been produced in South India and Mesopotamia, indicating previously unseen trade and connections between Southern & Western Asia and the Laotian highlands.
In combination with the dating evidence, this suggests that the use of these jars for burial corresponded with a period of increasing trans-Asian connectivity, facilitated by commercial expansion under several flourishing polities such as China’s Song Dynasty and Cambodia’s Khmer Empire.
“The site highlights the critical value of exploring remote, undisturbed landscapes in Laos”, Dr Skopal concludes. “The preservation encountered here offers an exceptional window into past mortuary practices, and indicates that many comparable sites may still exist, awaiting discovery. Continued investigation of these landscapes has the potential to fundamentally transform our understanding of the cultural and social dynamics that shaped the region.”