The Plain of Jars - Easter Island and Stonehenge tranplanted in Laos??

I had never heard of the Plain of Jars until I started preparing for my Laos trip. The more I read, I found it fascinating that so many jars were to be found across a vast tract of land. It was being compared to Stonehenge and Easter Island in its uniqueness and that interested me.  I actually wanted to go from Luang Prabang straight down to Vientiane, the land route was too long and expensive. Instead I went to Vientiane via a detour of Phonsovan and The Plain, taking a flight for my final destination.

It was a bad start as the guide and car were bad: courtesy Mr Nouds Phetrasy, owner of Sousath Travels, in Phonosvan, and a former partner of my hotel’s owner, is a conman. Despite stating my requirements of the guide and the car, and agreeing to it, he reneged. I refused to go with the first guide and driver who spoke no English. They both were changed. 

REMEMBER: never ever make full payments for such trip in advance and take it day by day.  We had planned, as suggested by various brochures, a two day sights trip. In fact, we finished it in one day – their aim is to extend the trips over a few days so as to earn money from the unsuspecting tourist. 

Xieng Khouang is widely known for the Plain of Jars, but beyond its jars, there is  natural beauty of the province. The scenery is characterised by the highest mountains in the country (Mount Phou Bia), pine forests, deciduous woodlands, rolling hills and grasslands. In the cold season the green hills of  turn reddish brown giving it a touch of the “Wild West” with yellow sunflowers and pointsetta in full bloom. Nam Ngum, the largest river in the province originates from the mountains in Paek District and is one of the major tributaries of the Mekong. Visiting the area is very beautiful during peach and orchid tree blossom in February.
It was a cloudy day too and rain was forecast. The guide decided that we would start with Site # 3 and then go to #2 and finally #1. It was the only decent decision he made as frankly by the time we reached Site 1, I was tired of seeing jars and more jars and it had started raining ... pouring down. 

.Plain of Jars is a megalithic archaeological landscape with thousands of stone jars scattered around the upland valleys and the lower foothills of the central plain of the Xiang Khouang Plateau. The jars are mostly arranged in clusters ranging in number from one to several hundred. Madeleine Colani, the French archaeologist, believed that Xien Khouang region was at the crossroads of ancient trade routes.There is a story or legend around these jars – Khun Jueang defeated an oppressive ruler in the 5^th or 6^th C. To celebrate, the locals made these jars filled them with rice wine and the celebration continued......

The locals claim that the jars are made from sand, sugar, cowhide and they were baked in the kilns of Site #1. They believe the Khmu ethnic minority are said to be the ancestors of these jars. 

The Xieng Khouang Plateau is located at the northern end of the Annamese Cordillera, the principal mountain range of Indochina. Madeleine Colani said in1930 that the jars were associated with prehistoric burial practices. Excavation by Lao and Japanese archaeologists in the intervening years has supported this interpretation with the discovery of human remains, burial goods and ceramics around the jars. Bones, teeth, pottery, beads of glass and stone are found here. Several burial pits surround the jars. The Plain of Jars is dated to the Iron Age (500 BC to AD 500) and is one of the most important prehistoric sites in Southeast Asia. 

More than 90 jar sites have been identified within Xiang khouang Province. Each site has from one to 400 stone jars. The jars vary in height and diameter between 1m and 3m. Their shape is cylindrical with the bottom always wider than the top. The stone jars are undecorated, with the exception of a single jar at Site 1. This jar has a human "frogman" bas-relief carved on the exterior. Parallels between the "frogman" and the rock painting at Huashan in Guangxi, China have been drawn. The Chinese paintings, which depict large full-frontal images of humans with arms raised and knees bent, are dated to 500 BC–200 AD.

We walked half a kilometre to the Site# 3 across fields and demarcated paths cleared by the Mines Advisory Group MAG. Absolutely critical to stick to these paths as mines abound everywhere. The Jars Site is atop a hillock so you can’t see it from the road or field level. I climbed over a rough wooden gate and there it was .... Jars of all shapes and sizes and in varying positions littered across the area.                                            Quite astounding. 

Site #3 is on the hill and has a commanding view of the countryside. Many of these Jar sites were used in the Indo China War as military trenches and foxholes. Anti aircraft positions were evident in Site#1. There was heavy fighting all around the jar sites as each one I saw was located with a commanding view of the countryside. 

Plain of Jars Site # 3 –

MAG cleared unexploded ordinance - UXO – in 2005 – joint NZAID – UNESCO project.

They clearly marked in WHITE where sub surface UXO was cleared. In RED where UXO removed only from surface. Guidelines clearly state STAY within WHITE markers.

Clearance stats:

Area sub surface cleared – 19,260 sq. metres

Area visually searched – 4,878 sq metres

Scrap found – 6,863 pieces

UXO found - 22 items found here. 

Stone discs have been found  which differ from the lids, have at least one flat side and are grave markers which were placed on the surface to cover or mark a burial pit. These grave markers appear more infrequently than jars, but are found in close proximity. Similar are stone grave markers; these stones are unworked, but have been placed intentionally to mark a grave. 

Ban Nam Hom jar site and creation of the jars

This place has 36 jars in four groups. One of these sites is where the jars were made. I write this description in detail as it’s interesting. The bedrock is situated on the surface. Little channels were cut around huge blocks of stone. Once the block was loose, first the outside was shaped and then the hole was carved. Unfinished jars at different stages of manufacture are found here. The jars are carved out of massive conglomerate and breccias. This is the only site where breccias was used for manufacture of the jars. 

Since most of the jars have lip rims, it is thought that the jars originally supported lids, although few stone lids have been recorded; this may suggest that the bulk of lids were fashioned from perishable materials. Stone lids with animal carvings have been found at few sites such as Ban Phakeo (Site 52). 

The bas-relief carvings are thought to depict monkeys, tigers and frogs. No in situ lid has ever been found.he jars lie in clusters on the lower foot slopes and mountain ridges of the hills surrounding the central plateau and upland valleys.

Site # 2 was actually quite far. At each site, there is a hut where the ticket is sold and where there are posters on its wall detailing some information. This site had one area to the left close to parking but there was a larger area up a steepish slope, where I insisted the SUV should go to the top – after all I had paid for the privilege of transport! Both sites were interesting. Again, marked paths. Fewer jars than the Site #3.

Plain of Jars site # 2

This was cleared between Oct 2004 and Jan 2005.

Area sub surface cleared – 17,390 sq. metres

Area visually searched – 15,850 sq metres

Scrap found – 11,770 pieces

UXO found – 26 items found here. 

Secondary burial process

After death, the corpse is placed in a jar. The family does not disturb the jar until the corpse has disintegrated into bones only. These are collected and buried in the soil in a pit.

In contemporary funerary practices followed by Thai, Cambodian and Laotian royalty, the corpse of the deceased is placed into an urn during the early stages of the funeral rites, at which time the soul of deceased is believed to be undergoing gradual transformation from the earthly to the spiritual world. The ritual decomposition is later followed by cremation and secondary burial.

Incidentally, the megalithic Dravidians of South India used giant burial urns called Mudhumakkal Thazhi (burial-pots-of-the-old-people) or EemaThazhi. These funerary urns were buried with the bodies of the deceased or soon-to-die in a sitting posture, along with their personal goods and ornaments.^[2] This practice was in vogue until 200 AD.

Whilst nature and animals have contributed to the loss and damage, in fact the majority of the damage was caused during the Wars during Chinese raids and the Indo China War. Jars were rendered useless to humiliate the locals. They were also targeted as strategic military positions. Frankly, it is agreed in all literature that in recent years due to total neglect, they have suffered the most. Tourists have also damaged them. Development of infrastructure has not helped these jars being maintained as historical and archaeological marvels. 

 

Plain of Jars site # 1

This was cleared between July 2004 and Oct 2004.

Area sub surface cleared – 24,375 sq. metres

Area visually searched – 225,000 sq metres

Scrap found – 31,814 pieces

UXO found – 127 items found here. Included bombs, rocket, shells and mortars. Mainly cluster bombs the size of a tennis ball. 

Warning seen everywhere in the city - Phonsavan is one of the most heavily bombed places in the world. There are unexploded ordinances everywhere, and on average 60 people die each year due to UXOs. Take extreme caution when wandering around any off-the-beaten paths. Stay on the paths unless it is absolutely necessary to do otherwise.

Between 1964 and 1973, the Plain of Jars was heavily bombed by the U.S. Air Force (see Secret War) operating against North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao communist forces. The U.S. Air Force dropped more bombs on Laos, primarily the Plain of Jars, than it dropped during the whole of World War II. This included 262 million anti-personnel cluster bombs. An estimated 80 million of these did not explode and remain a deadly threat to the population. 

We finally landed up at Site #1 in pouring rain. There was no way that we could walk in this downpour. So, I spent a pleasant 20 minutes seeing the small museum with its detailed maps and photographs of Lao history, especially detailed from the Indo China War till date. There were the munitions laid out for you to see too...shown here.

We then returned via the Noodle Village, yet another Lao phenomenon of turning a daily activity into a tourist event... rather tiring. One notices that they have actively copied the American style of creating ordinary places and activities into events of Tourist interest. Anyway, read about sightseeing in Phonsovan in the other blog.

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