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BY MARK WORGAN

Archaeologists believe they have solved the mystery of Laos’ giant jars of death - huge vessels full of human remains, found in the Southeast Asian country’s remote northern uplands.

Hundreds of enormous stone jars, some weighing several tonnes, are scattered across northern Laos’ jungle landscape, but despite decades of research their purpose has remained uncertain.

Now a team excavating one of the giant stone jars have uncovered the remains of at least 37 people, shedding new light on one of the region’s most mysterious ancient sites.

The particularly large jar near the town of Phonsavan, measured 1.3m high and more than 2m wide.

Inside, they found densely packed human remains, including bones and teeth belonging to at least 37 individuals.

The findings, published in the journal Antiquity, suggest the jars were used over a prolonged period between the ninth and 12th centuries.

“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”, said Nicholas Skopal from James Cook University, who co-led the study alongside Lao heritage official Souilya Bounxayhip.

Radiocarbon dating indicated the jar was used for what researchers described as “secondary internment”, in which bodies were first left to decompose elsewhere before bones were later placed inside the vessel.

“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 explained.

The discovery challenges earlier theories suggesting the jars served as final burial sites dating back to the Southeast Asian Iron Age.

“The number of individuals also suggests the jars were owned by family or extended family groups,” Dr Skopal added.

“They likely served as places where ancestral rites were performed over generations.”
Researchers also uncovered glass beads inside the jar, which chemical analysis suggested originated in South India and Mesopotamia.

The team said the finds pointed to previously unknown trade links between the Laotian highlands and regions across southern and western Asia.

The study suggests the burial practices may have coincided with a period of expanding trade and cultural exchange across Asia, linked to powers including China’s Song dynasty and Cambodia’s Khmer Empire.

“The site highlights the critical value of exploring remote, undisturbed landscapes in Laos”, Dr Skopal said.

“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.”