A Discovered Trove of Bones and Teeth Yields New Clues to the Century-Old Mystery of 'Death Jars' in Laos
Researchers say the jar held remains from secondary interment, suggesting the Plain of Jars served as a long-used mortuary site.
- Archaeologists led by James Cook University in Australia discovered the remains of 37 individuals inside a giant stone vessel, known as Jar 1, at Site 75 in Laos during excavations from 2022 to 2024.
- Lead archaeologist Nicholas Skopal of James Cook University determined the site served as secondary interment, where remains were deposited between the 9th and 12th centuries CE after an initial decomposition phase elsewhere.
- Analysis of 20 glass beads recovered from the jar revealed materials originating from South India and Mesopotamia, indicating this remote highland community participated in expanding medieval trade networks.
- Findings suggest the vessel functioned as a collective ossuary where family clans performed ancestral rites over generations, according to Skopal, rather than serving as a conventional burial site.
- Future work will involve ancient DNA analysis to identify the individuals, though researchers continue facing logistical hurdles from unexploded ordnance left by the Vietnam War littering the landscape.
11 Articles
11 Articles
A Discovered Trove of Bones and Teeth Yields New Clues to the Century-Old Mystery of 'Death Jars' in Laos
Scientists found bones of 37 people inside a giant stone jar at one of Southeast Asia’s most puzzling archaeological sites. The find suggests a multigenerational burial practice
Human Remains Found on the Plain of Jars in Laos - Archaeology Magazine
Glass beads NORTH QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA—The disarticulated remains of multiple generations of people and imported glass beads have been discovered in a large jar at Site 75 on the Plain of Jars in northern Laos, Live Science reports. More than 2,000 stone jars ranging in size from about three to 10 feet tall have been found on the Plain of Jars. It has long been thought that these jars could have been used for burials. Nicholas Skopal of James C…
Bones Of 37 People Found In A Giant Stone Jar Points To A Mysterious Burial Ritual In The Jungle
"The repeated use of the jar, combined with the associated offerings such as beads, pottery, and metal objects, suggests these were important ceremonial spaces tied to memory, identity, and ancestral ritual."
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