Laos Stone Jar Yields 37 Human Remains, Recasting 9th-12th Century Burial Rites
Updated
Updated · New Scientist · May 20
Laos Stone Jar Yields 37 Human Remains, Recasting 9th-12th Century Burial Rites
8 articles · Updated · New Scientist · May 20
A 1.3-metre stone jar near Phonsavan held remains from at least 37 people, the first excavation to tie a Plain of Jars vessel directly to mortuary use.
Radiocarbon dating showed bones were deposited in multiple phases over as long as 270 years between the 9th and 12th centuries AD, with skulls and femurs tightly arranged after likely decomposition elsewhere.
Smaller jars about 500 metres away contained glass beads, supporting a theory that bodies first decomposed in secondary vessels before bones were transferred to a larger communal jar.
The find challenges long-standing Iron Age interpretations of the Plain of Jars, with researchers saying this site points instead to sustained medieval funerary practice spanning generations.
Glass beads traced to South India and Mesopotamia, along with other grave goods, suggest the jar users were part of wider Asian trade and cultural networks.
Do the 37 individuals in one jar represent a single family lineage across 300 years?
What did ancient Laotian highlanders offer in exchange for goods from Mesopotamia?
New Insights into the Plain of Jars: Secondary Burials and Ritual Life at Site 75 (9th–12th Centuries CE)
Overview
A major archaeological breakthrough announced in May 2026 has transformed our understanding of the Plain of Jars in northern Laos. Excavations at Site 75 revealed ancient burials from the 9th to 12th centuries CE, showing that the massive stone jars were used for complex mortuary rituals long after their creation. These findings provide vital new insights into the cultural significance and sustained ritual use of the jars, even as questions remain about who made them and how they were transported. The discovery adds an important new layer to the ongoing mystery of this unique archaeological landscape.